23 Apr 10. FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR) today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010. Revenue was $287.3m, up 6% compared to first quarter 2009 revenue of $272.0m. Operating income for the quarter was $84.3m, up 1% from $83.4m in the first quarter of 2009. Net income for the quarter was $55.9m, or $0.35 per diluted share, compared with net income of $54.3m, or $0.35 per diluted share, in the first quarter a year ago. Cash provided by operations during the quarter was $82.2m. Revenue from the Company’s Government Systems division decreased 2% from the first quarter of 2009, to $158.3m. Revenue from the Company’s Commercial Systems division increased 17% over the first quarter of 2009, to $129.0m. Within the Commercial Systems’ division, revenue from Commercial Vision Systems increased 16% over the first quarter of last year, to $53.4m, reflecting strong growth across multiple product lines. Revenue from Thermography increased 18% from the first quarter of last year, to $75.6m, reflecting strong growth in the U.S. and Asia-Pacific regions. The backlog of firm orders for delivery within the next twelve months was approximately $543m at March 31, 2010, a decrease of $20m during the quarter. Backlog in the Government System’s division was $418m, down $15m during the quarter. Backlog in the Commercial Vision Systems division was $101m, down $2m during the quarter. Backlog in the Thermography division was $24m, down $3m during the quarter. Based on its financial results for the first quarter of 2010, and the outlook for the remainder of the year, management today is reaffirming its outlook for revenue and earnings per share for the full year 2010. Management currently expects revenue for 2010 to be in the range of $1.2bn to $1.3bn, an increase of approximately 9% compared with 2009, and net earnings to be in the range of $1.48 to $1.53 per diluted share, an increase of approximately 4% compared with 2009.
“I am very pleased with our first quarter performance. Our commercial businesses had solid growth year-over-year and Government Systems was little changed, as expected. Gross margins and operating margins remained at near-record levels. Cash flow from operations of $82m was also excellent,” stated Earl Lewis, President and CEO of FLIR. “We are seeing a good recovery in our commercial businesses, and expect them to grow nicely for the remainder of 2010 and beyond. The Government Systems division is on track to meet our expectations as we expand our sales footprint and marketing activities to position us for long term growth. As a company, we continue to focus on efficient operations, broad distribution, high quality products, and leadership in promising growth markets.”
23 Apr 10. Morgan Crucible said demand for industrial goods was improving as companies sought to re-stock inventories in response to an easing in the global recession. The Berkshire-based group, whose advanced materials are used in products ranging from artificial hips to military body armour and aircraft control systems, also said it had seen a pick up in new orders since the start of the year. The company generates a quarter of its revenues in the UK, a further quarter in continental Europe, 30 per cent in North America with the remainder in emerging markets led by China. Although trading conditions in Europe remained subdued, the company said demand in the US and Asia had picked up during the past three months.
“Customers who made cutbacks during the downturn are now starting to buy back stock and we are seeing the effects of that now,” said Mark Robertshaw, the group’s chief executive.
Mr Robertshaw added that while China and India were performing well, he was less certain about the speed at which the European market would recover. Morgan Crucible slumped to a 62 per cent fall in pre-tax profits in 2009, but said it was starting to benefit from the impact of cost savings it had taken during the year. During 2009 the g