Artesyn Reports First Quarter 2004 Financial Results
Tuesday April 20, 7:02 am ET
biz.yahoo.com
Sales Grew 18% From First Quarter 2003
Earnings Per Share Exceeds First Call Estimates
BOCA RATON, Fla., April 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Artesyn Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATSN), a leader in the design, manufacture and sale of power conversion and single-board computing solutions to the communications industry, today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 26, 2004.
Sales reported for the first quarter of 2004 were $96.5 million compared to $81.9 million for the same quarter last year. Net income for the first quarter was $1.9 million, or earnings per share of $0.05, compared to a net loss of $7.5 million, or $(0.19) per share for the first quarter a year ago.
Total orders received during the first quarter of 2004 were $106.1 million, yielding a book-to-bill ratio of 1.10. The quarter ended with backlog of $96.3 million with approximately 93% shippable during the second quarter. Major design wins for the quarter were 18, totaling more than $116 million in expected revenue over the next two to four years.
Artesyn's President and Chief Executive Officer, Joseph O'Donnell noted, "After three years of industry turmoil, we are pleased to report Artesyn's second consecutive quarter of profitability. In addition, revenue for the quarter grew 18% compared to the first quarter of 2003. The book-to-bill ratio of 1.10 was at the high end of our expected range, supporting the 2004 revenue growth goals.
"Operating performance improved as gross margins increased to 25.4%, or approximately 300 basis points higher than the fourth quarter of 2003, largely due to continued manufacturing efficiencies and a favorable mix of business. Contributing to this improved mix was the sales growth in embedded computers and DC/DC power supplies."
Mr. O'Donnell continued, "At 10.5% of sales, Artesyn remains an industry leader in research and development investments, which continue to yield cutting edge products. During the first quarter we added a fast transient point-of-load (PoL) converter to the Typhoon(TM) family of DC/DC converters. This new PoL converter takes up less surface area than a dime and uses the smallest amount of board space and highest density amps per square inch in the market. Additionally, our Communications Products group announced the industry's first advanced mezzanine card, which offers telecom OEMs cost efficient solutions for adding processing power in the newest telecom architecture known as AdvancedTCA or ATCA.
"We ended the quarter with $95.5 million in cash, despite investing nearly $6 million in capital equipment to increase production capacity. The continued improvement is a result of focusing on working capital management and in shortening the cash-to-cash cycle."
Concluding his quarterly comments, Mr. O'Donnell noted, "At the end of last year, we shared Artesyn's objectives for 2004 -- maintain profitability, grow market share, enter new communication market segments and continue to invest in industry leading technology. As seen from the discussion and results reported today, Artesyn is on the way to achieving these goals. We have continued to improve operating performance, invest in technology and strengthen our balance sheet. As a result, we are creating a strong operating model which is expected to sustain and improve profitability through the rest of 2004." |
