Quiet board. Anyone know how Q4 results released today compare with expectations/whisper numbers, etc?
American Power Conversion's Annual Revenues Increase 29 Percent and Surpass the Billion Dollar Mark for the First Time
PR Newswire - February 04, 1999 16:15
Fourth Quarter Revenues and Net Income Increase 27 Percent
WEST KINGSTON, R.I., Feb. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Driven by strong demand for the Company's power protection solutions and the continued worldwide need for the high availability of information technology (IT), American Power Conversion Corporation (Nasdaq: APCC) today announced record annual results for the year ended December 31, 1998. This marked the first year in which APC reached the $1 billion revenue milestone and the eleventh consecutive year of record revenues since going public in 1988.
Sales for the twelve months ended December 31, 1998 were a record $1.126 billion, up 29 percent from $873.4 million in 1997. Net income for the year was a record $155.1 million ($1.60 per share), excluding a charge of approximately $7.6 million or $.08 per share for acquired research and development (R&D) expenses associated with the acquisition of Silcon A/S. Excluding the R&D charge, net income for the year was up 27 percent from $121.8 million ($1.27 per share) in 1997.
Sales for the fourth quarter of 1998 were $318.9 million, up 27 percent from $251.7 million in the fourth quarter of 1997. Net income for the fourth quarter was a record $47.5 million ($.49 per share), up 27 percent from $37.4 million ($.39 per share) in the fourth quarter of 1997.
"1998 was an extremely rewarding year and I am pleased to point out that APC is the first company solely dedicated to power protection solutions to reach one billion dollars in revenues," said Rodger B. Dowdell Jr., APC president and CEO. "With the acquisition of Silcon A/S, the continued introduction of new products, the expansion and development of new strategic partnerships, and the distribution of manufacturing efforts around the world, we made very significant progress in 1998 toward our objective of providing global end-to-end Nonstop Networking(TM) solutions to our customers," explained Dowdell.
"Our purchase of Silcon was an integral step in expanding our role in the industry, broadening our product and service offerings, and enabling APC to provide a one-stop-shop to all of our global customers," continued Dowdell. "We are currently shipping Silcon solutions to all of our major geographic regions and continue to be pleased with the initial customer response we are receiving. Additionally, we are actively developing and implementing new programs and offerings to enhance APC's global support of customers' product and service needs in this segment.
"In the global marketplace, 1998 was filled with economic challenges for many companies across various industries. We are pleased to report that our business grew in every major geographic region on a year-over-year basis," said Dowdell.
For the full year, the Americas (North and Latin America) increased 27 percent, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) was up 38 percent and Asia grew 19 percent. In the fourth quarter, the Americas were up 19 percent, EMEA grew 34 percent and Asia was up 45 percent.
"The fourth quarter's activities further supported our objectives with strategic product announcements and relationships that capitalized on IT trends," explained Dowdell. "First, we brought to market new desktop uninterruptible power supply (UPS) technologies designed to capitalize on Microsoft's introduction of Windows 98, introducing the industry's first UPS with a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, that provides premium application and data protection for high-performance PC users. APC's Back-UPS Pro(R) 350 and 500 are the first UPSs with USB to obtain the prestigious 'Designed for Microsoft Windows 98' logo. Second, we introduced the industry's slimmest 5kVA rackmount UPS, the Smart-UPS(R) 5000, to protect the increasingly powerful servers and internetworking products that are ever more frequently being housed in one rack.
"Additionally, from a relationship perspective, APC has had a number of announcements with IBM over the past several months," continued Dowdell. "During the fourth quarter, IBM Global Services announced it will resell APC's UPSs for IBM's RS/6000 workstations worldwide. This is the first UPS offering specifically for RS/6000 workstation solutions made available through IBM. In January 1999, IBM Global Services also announced it will resell APC UPSs for select IBM RS/6000 servers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. IBM already makes available APC power protection solutions for RS/6000 servers in North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific.
Business Outlook
"The worldwide IT markets that our products serve continue to expand and support exciting new applications. We believe the continued need for assurance that power problems won't bring operations to a halt remains strong. For the full year 1999, we expect to see revenue and net income growth in the range of 20 to 25 percent. We are presently comfortable with the range of earnings per share estimates of $1.92 to $1.93 for the full year 1999 and $.33 to $.37 for the first quarter 1999, as published on First Call," concluded Dowdell.
The statements contained in the "Business Outlook" section are forward- looking statements based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties including those which are described below under the heading "Safe Harbor Provision." While the Company believes that it has a reasonable prospect of achieving these results in 1999, it cannot provide any assurance that these expectations will actually be met.
Safe Harbor Provision
Statements contained in this press release which are not historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from those projected. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include the following: the ability of APC to operate Silcon as a less than wholly-owned subsidiary; APC's ability to successfully integrate Silcon's operations; the timely development and acceptance of new products; ramp up and expansion of manufacturing capacity; general worldwide economic conditions; growth rates in the power protection industry and related industries, including but not limited to the PC, server and networking industries; competitive factors and pricing pressures; changes in product mix; changes in the seasonality of demand patterns; inventory risks due to shifts in market demand; the effects of any other possible acquisitions; component constraints and shortages; risk of nonpayment of accounts receivable; impact on the Company's business due to internal systems or systems of suppliers and other third parties adversely affected by year 2000 problems; the uncertainty of the litigation process including risk of an unexpected, unfavorable result of current or future litigation; and the risks described from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
About American Power Conversion
Founded in 1981, American Power Conversion (Nasdaq:APCC) is a worldwide leader in the designing, manufacturing, and marketing of power protection and management solutions for Nonstop Networking(TM). APC's comprehensive range of products include surge suppressors, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), power conditioning equipment, and related software for computer and computer- related equipment. APC, which is headquartered in West Kingston, Rhode Island, reported sales of $1.126 billion for the year ended December 31, 1998.
All trademarks are the property of their owners. Additional information about APC and its global end-to-end solutions can be found by accessing the APC World Wide Web site at www.apcc.com or by calling 800-877-4080
|
