Business highlights:
- Sold 3.5 million units in the third quarter of 2011, with positive performance in our EMEA operations offset by declines in the Americas and APAC.
- Introduced our 2012 nüvi® line-up with products for every lifestyle and budget ranging from Essential to Advanced to Prestige.
- Announced the Edge® 200 and Vector™ power meter for the cycling community with the Edge 200 shipping in 2011 and Vector in early 2012.
- Delivered the aera® 795 and 796 portable touchscreen aviation navigators with premium features and capabilities that can only be delivered with a dedicated device.
- Shipped the Montana™ series of handhelds featuring a 4” touchscreen, sunlight readable display, 5 MP camera and other advanced features desired by our high-end outdoor customers.
Executive overview from Dr. Min Kao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer:
“In the third quarter, revenue again exceeded our expectations with fitness and aviation delivering strong growth even though macroeconomic conditions continued to be challenging. Free cash flow generation continued to be strong at $174 million in the third quarter. This supports our high yield quarterly dividend, as well as ongoing diversification through research and development investment and strategic acquisitions,” said Dr. Min Kao, chairman and chief executive officer of Garmin Ltd. “Based on our results in the quarter, we now expect to deliver revenues of approximately $2.6 billion and pro forma EPS of $2.30 - $2.40 in 2011.
The automotive/mobile segment posted a 13% revenue decline in the third quarter but was ahead of our expectations. Market share gains in our EMEA operations contributed growth but were offset by the significant volume declines in the North American PND market. Our average selling price (ASP) in the quarter was relatively stable due to an increase in the popularity of our bundled product offerings, offset by a decrease in the ASP of comparable models from the prior year. The reported operating margin for the segment was 15% driven by product mix and the updated deferred revenue model associated with certain bundled products. When adjusted for net deferred revenue and costs associated with bundled products, operating margin would have been 18%.
The outdoor segment posted revenue growth of 5% including contributions from our recent acquisition of Tri-Tronics. This was slightly below expectation as growth in the quarter was restrained due to the limited availability of new products. Both our Approach® S1 for the golfers and our Astro® 320 dog tracking product sold very well. We have also seen our new eTrex®, GPSMAP® 62 and Montana series of handhelds gain significant traction with the outdoor consumers which we believe will be a contributing factor to improving growth rates in the fourth quarter as supply improves.
The fitness segment posted revenue growth of 29% with strong results continuing from our high-end Forerunner® 610 and Edge 800. While we have seen an increasing number of competitors in the fitness market, we have maintained our top position in the GPS-enabled fitness category by offering a range of products from entry-level with basic functionality like “how far and how fast” to the high-end Forerunner 910 for the triathlete market.
The marine segment posted revenue growth of 4% with chartplotters and fishfinders contributing growth. We continue to build the Garmin brand in the marine industry and were pleased to be selected as the official supplier of marine navigation systems to the 34th America’s Cup, illustrating our ability to deliver customized systems to the sailboat racing community. We are investing heavily in both research and development and support infrastructure as we grow our long-term OEM presence.
The aviation segment posted revenue growth of 18% as the retrofit market
improved year-over-year driven by new product introductions. We also
experienced a slight increase in OEM equipment deliveries, even as the
overall general aviation market remains depressed. We are excited about
the two recent key OEM business jet announcements: Cessna’s M2 with the
Garmin G3000 cockpit and Cessna’s Latitude with the Garmin G5000
cockpit. These are scheduled to begin production in 2013 and 2015,
respectively.”