(Source: Business Wire)

Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN) today announced third quarter results for the
period ended September 26, 2009.
Third Quarter 2009 Financial highlights:
Total revenue of $781 million, down 10% from $870 million in third
quarter 2008
Automotive/Mobile segment revenue decreased 13% to $546 million
Outdoor/Fitness segment revenue increased 11% to $132 million
Aviation segment revenue decreased 29% to $58 million
Marine segment revenue increased 3% to $45 million
North America and Europe continued to experience year-over-year
revenue declines while Asia improved:
North America revenue was $503 million compared to $585 million,
down 14%
Europe revenue was $237 million compared to $247 million, down 4%
Asia revenue was $41 million compared to $38 million, up 8%
Gross margin improved to 52.4% compared to 44.3% in third quarter 2008
and declined slightly from 52.6% in second quarter 2009
Operating margin improved to 30.3% compared to 24.6% in third quarter
2008 and 29.8% in second quarter of 2009
Diluted earnings per share increased 30% to $1.07 from $0.82 in third
quarter 2008; pro forma earnings per share increased 17% to $1.02 from
$0.87 in the same quarter in 2008. (Pro forma earnings per share
excludes the impact of foreign currency translation gain or loss.)
Generated $281 million of free cash flow in third quarter 2009 for a
cash and marketable securities balance of just over $1.8 billion.
Year-to-Date 2009 Financial highlights:
Total revenue of $1.89 billion, down 23% from $2.45 billion
year-to-date 2008
Automotive/Mobile segment revenue decreased 27% to $1.24 billion
Outdoor/Fitness segment revenue increased 4% to $320 million
Aviation segment revenue decreased 29% to $181 million
Marine segment revenue decreased 16% to $144 million
All geographic areas experienced a year-to-date slowdown in revenues:
North America revenue was $1.20 billion compared to $1.57 billion,
down 23%
Europe revenue was $577 million compared to $764 million, down 24%
Asia revenue was $105 million compared to $109 million, down 4%
Diluted earnings per share decreased 21% to $2.12 from $2.68 in
year-to-date 2008; pro forma EPS decreased 15% to $2.10 from $2.47 in
year-to-date 2008. (Pro forma earnings per share excludes the impact
of foreign currency translation gain or loss and the 2008 gain on sale
of TeleAtlas N.V. shares.)
Generated $813 million of free cash flow year-to-date.
Business highlights:
Posted sequential revenue growth of 17% with both automotive/mobile
and outdoor/fitness showing increased revenues.
Reported 25% sequential revenue growth in the automotive/mobile
segment with sequential gross margin and operating margin improvement
of 360 and 490 basis points, respectively, as pricing, cost, and
volumes improved.
Resumed revenue growth in the outdoor/fitness segment due to growing
worldwide interest in the product category and a strong reception to
our latest fitness watches, the Forerunner® 310XT and FR 60.
Reported 3% revenue growth in the marine segment as market share gains
offset the ongoing weakness within the marine industry.
Sold 3.9 million units in the third quarter of 2009 driven by PND unit
growth in both North America and Asia and strong outdoor/fitness unit
growth resuming.
Continued to lead in world-wide PND market share. Independent market
share research indicates that we have expanded our leadership position
in the North American PND market with approximately a 60% share, which
is up sequentially from 57% in second quarter. We maintained a market
share of approximately 20% in Europe.
Finalized nüvifone launch initiatives with G60 availability in the
U.S. (AT&T), Switzerland (Sunrise), and France (unlocked) and Asus
leading efforts to launch the G60 and M20 in various Asian markets
including Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.
Introduced the nüvi® 1690T, a connected PND featuring rich, real-time
content delivered wirelessly with product offerings in both the United
States and Western Europe, for delivery in the fourth quarter.
Executive overview from Dr. Min Kao, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer:
"We saw steady sequential improvement in our consumer segments during
the third quarter and are very pleased to return to year-over-year
earnings per share growth in the quarter. While revenues fell
year-over-year, the rate of decline moderated at 10% but our margin
improvements more than offset that decline. We remain focused on efforts
to improve productivity and manage expenses as the consumer spending
environment continues to recover.
The automotive/mobile segment continued to show growth on a unit basis
in both the North American and Asian markets, while also exhibiting
marked improvement in the European market in comparison to the first
half of the year. The sequential improvement in pricing and margins in
the quarter was largely driven by the delivery of our new 1200, 1300 and
1400 nüvi series. We were also pleased to launch the nüvifone
G60 on October 4th with AT&T in the United States market. The
product represents just one of many ways that Garmin intends to deliver
real-time location -- based content and services to our customers. Another
is the nüvi 1690 which will be prominently featured as our high-end
offering for the holiday season.
The outdoor/fitness segment again showed its strength, posting
year-over-year revenue growth of 11% with strong gross and operating
margins. Our newest outdoor and fitness products including the Dakota
line of handhelds in the outdoor market, and the Forerunner® line of
fitness products, drove the strong third quarter results. We believe
that these products along with our newest cycling product, the Edge®
500, will perform well during the holidays due to the gift appeal of
this category.
The aviation segment posted a third straight quarter of significant
decline as the segment continues to be affected by a difficult economic
environment. We do not anticipate growth until overall market conditions
show consistent stabilization. Although the industry will continue to
lag, we remain focused on research and development efforts which allowed
us to introduce several exciting new products in recent weeks. This
includes our G3000 touchscreen, glass cockpit for the Part 23 turbine
market. Launch platforms for the G3000 include Honda Jet and Piper Jet.
In addition, we introduced the Aera series that combines
aviation and automotive navigation features in a portable product. With
these introductions, Garmin clearly remains at the forefront of
innovation and advancement in the avionics industry.
The marine segment posted third quarter revenue growth of 3% over the
same quarter of last year. While the general marine market remains down,
we are outperforming our competitors on the strength of our marine
product lineup and believe that we are gaining market share in the
marine electronics industry. We were excited to recently announce our
OEM relationship with Regal. Over two dozen 2010 Regal boat models will
be offering Garmin electronics as standard selections on the equipment
list. This relationship further validates our push into the OEM portion
of the marine industry. While we do not expect to post significant
growth in this segment until the macroeconomic conditions improve, we do
expect that year-over-year revenues have stabilized in the near-term."
Financial overview from Kevin Rauckman, Chief Financial Officer:
"Our financial results for the third quarter highlight our commitment to
managing our business efficiently during periods of ongoing revenue
decline and the reward of earnings per share growth," said Kevin
Rauckman, Chief Financial Officer of Garmin Ltd. "While our revenue
during the quarter fell 10% on a year-over-year basis, we posted pro
forma earnings per share growth of 17% as we sustained our strong gross
and operating margin performance from second quarter 2009.
Gross margin for the overall business in the third quarter was 52% with
all segments, excluding outdoor/fitness, posting year-over-year margin
improvement. The automotive/mobile segment gross margin was most
improved at 48% compared to 38% in the third quarter of 2008.
Improvement was driven by moderation in year-over-year average selling
price decline, foreign currency fluctuations and continued benefit from
material cost reductions. Gross margin for the marine segment also
improved materially when compared with the year-ago quarter from 49% to
54% due to product mix and material cost reductions.
Operating margin increased to 30% in the current quarter from 25% in the
year-ago quarter. The operating margin improvement occurred in the
automotive/mobile and marine segments driven by the gross margin
improvements. Total operating expenses increased by $2 million on a
year-over-year basis. We reduced advertising expenses by $5 million, or
10%, while other selling, general and administrative expenses increased
by $4 million, or 5%. Research and development costs increased by $3
million, or 5%, when compared to the year-ago quarter as we continue to
hire engineers to support our product initiatives.
We also generated $281 million of free cash flow in the third quarter of
2009, resulting in a cash and marketable securities balance of just over
$1.8 billion at the end of the quarter."
Non-GAAP Measures
Pro Forma net income (earnings) per share
Management believes that net income per share before the impact of
foreign currency translation gain or loss and other one-time items is an
important measure. The majority of the Company's consolidated foreign
currency translation gain or loss results from translations involving
the Euro, the British Pound Sterling and the Taiwan Dollar at the end of
each reporting period of the significant cash and marketable securities,
receivables and payables held in U.S. dollars by the Company's various
subsidiaries. Such translation is required under GAAP because the
functional currency of the subsidiaries differs from the currency in
which various assets and liabilities are held. However, there is minimal
cash impact from such foreign currency translation. Accordingly,
earnings per share before the impact of foreign currency translation
gain or loss allow an assessment of the Company's operating performance
before the non-cash impact of the position of the U.S. Dollar versus
other currencies, which permits a consistent comparison of results
between periods. The 2008 gain on sale of TeleAtlas N.V. shares is also
excluded below as a one-time item.
The following table contains a reconciliation of GAAP net income per
share to pro forma net income per share.
Garmin Ltd.