Lexar Media Reports Solid First Quarter Revenues and Profitability
Thursday April 17, 4:15 pm ET
Revenues Grow 90% Year Over Year; EPS of $0.06
FREMONT, Calif., April 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lexar Media, Inc. (Nasdaq: LEXR - News), a leading designer, developer and marketer of award-winning high-performance digital media and accessories, today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2003.
Total first quarter revenues of $54.6 million increased approximately 90% from $28.8 million in the same period last year. Product revenues of $50.3 million for the first quarter increased 102% from $24.9 million in the same period last year. Gross margin for the quarter was 27% compared to 28% in the first quarter last year. Net income was $4.3 million, or $0.06 per basic and diluted share, as compared to a net loss of $4.9 million, or ($0.08) per basic and diluted share, in the same period last year.
"Coming off our strong fourth quarter, we are very pleased with our first quarter results in what we anticipate will be our seasonally weakest quarter of the year," said Eric Stang, Lexar Media's president and chief executive officer. "We achieved solid financial results that were in line with our guidance in the face of significant challenges in the retail sector. Despite larger than typical price declines for the quarter, we effectively controlled our costs and met our financial targets. At the end of the quarter, our products were sold at more than 37,000 retail stores worldwide as compared to our target of 35,000 and approximately 31,000 at the end of the fourth quarter of 2002."
Recent Highlights
Lexar Media recently:
-- Was selected for the second consecutive year as the exclusive provider
of CompactFlash memory cards for all Nikon Coolpix digital cameras sold
in the U.S. The 16-megabyte High-Speed CompactFlash memory cards are
Lexar branded and labeled as a "Nikon Starter Card."
-- Announced shipments of Olympus xD-Picture Cards(TM) in the highest
capacity available, 256MB. The new capacity adds to the previously
available capacities of 16MB, 32MB, 64MB and 128MB.
-- Introduced 40X speed-rated Professional Series CompactFlash cards,
capable of minimum sustained write speeds of 6MB per second,
in capacities of 256MB and 512MB. Lexar also announced plans to extend
its line of Professional Series CompactFlash cards with industry-
leading 2GB and 4GB capacity cards, speed rated at 32X and capable of a
minimum sustained write speed of 4.8MB per second.
-- Extended its rigorous X-speed rating standard to Secure Digital cards.
Lexar's new High-Speed Secure Digital products are speed rated at 32X
and are available in 256MB and 512MB capacities.
-- Introduced JumpDrive Secure, a rugged portable USB storage device with
security software to protect data from unauthorized access for both PC
and MAC environments.
-- Introduced its second-generation Digital Photo Player, which brings
digital images to the living room by connecting digital memory cards
directly to a television. The new player is faster and supports six
popular memory formats as well as high-resolution JPEG images generated
from computers or cameras of up to six megapixels.
-- Announced a 7-in-1 Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Multi-Card Reader, which
accommodates CompactFlash Type I and Type II, Memory Stick, Memory
Stick PRO, Secure Digital, Smart Media and MultiMediaCard and other
formats.
-- Obtained a preliminary injunction against what Lexar believes to be
misleading speed advertising by flash card reseller PQI in Germany.
-- Announced its sponsorship of the San Francisco Giants and a program to
award four lucky fans the opportunity to act as a Giants team
photographer for a day. The sponsorship also includes ballpark
signage, scoreboard and on-air mentions and other promotion by the
Giants.
-- Increased its borrowing capacity with a $25 million lending facility
under a new banking relationship with Silicon Valley Bank. This
facility has significantly improved terms over previous borrowing
arrangements and is available to supplement Lexar's working capital
needs as required to fund anticipated growth.
Financial Outlook
In commenting on the Company's outlook, Mr. Stang continued, "We expect ongoing strong demand for digital storage products coupled with less pronounced price declines in the second quarter and remain well poised to continue the successful expansion of our retail strategy. We are projecting second quarter revenues of $60 million or more with net income of approximately $4.5 million, or $0.06 per share. We believe we remain on track to achieve our previous guidance of $250 to $275 million for the year with net income of $0.30 per share." |
