Littelfuse (LFUS) Q4 2000 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY00 sales rose 25% to $371.9m; net income increased 48% to $37.3m and diluted EPS rose 45% to $1.69, led by electronics growth.

• Operating income grew 38% to $61.7m, with operating margin improving to 16.6% from 15.1% on higher volume, firmer pricing and cost reductions.

Financial highlights

• Gross profit increased 28% to $150.6m; gross margin reached 40.5%, up from 39.6% in FY99.

• Operating cash flow rose 25% to $48.7m; capital expenditures were $22.0m, up 10% YoY.

• R&D spending increased 18% to $11.2m; reported return on equity was 24.6%, versus 19.3% in FY99.

• EBITDA increased 26% to $88.5m, compared with $70.2m in FY99.

Outlook and guidance

• FY01 sales were expected to start slowly amid electronics-market softness and lower automotive builds, then improve in H2 with an electronics recovery and new-product ramps.

• FY01 capex was forecast at $23–25m, primarily for new-product tooling and production equipment, funded from operating cash flow.

• Cost reduction, R&D, international market development and investment in capital equipment and operations improvements remained priorities.