QUEBEC CITY – Sales and net bookings continue to climb at EXFO.
For the third quarter ended May 31, 2010, the telecom test and measurement equipment manufacturer saw sales increase 44.9% to US$63.2 million, compared to $43.6 million in the third quarter of 2009, and up 16.8% from $54.1 million last quarter.
NetHawk Oyj, which the company acquired last March, contributed $6.0 million to EXFO’s revenues this quarter. Net bookings improved 58.2% to $63.6 million for the quarter, up from $40.2 million in the same period last year, and 10.0% from $57.8 million in the second quarter of 2010. The company’s book-to-bill ratio was 1.01 this quarter.
Gross margin reached 62.3% of sales, on par with the third quarter of 2009, and up slightly from 60.0% in the second quarter of 2010.
"I’m quite pleased with our execution so far in fiscal 2010 as we continue to outperform our industry through robust organic sales growth, while initiating key transformations like the recent acquisition of wireless test leader NetHawk to benefit from exciting growth opportunities for years to come," said chairman, president and CEO, Germain Lamonde, in a statement. "Within the wireline and wireless markets, our positioning and ability to make a real difference for our global customer base keeps improving, largely due to highly differentiated solutions and the significant synergies that exist between our various product lines. As our revenue mix gradually shifts towards higher-margin transport and datacom, service assurance and wireless test solutions, earnings leverage will improve which is aligned with our commitment to increase EBITDA (in dollars) faster than sales."
EXFO recorded a pre-tax foreign exchange loss of $1.2 million this quarter, compared to a loss of $4.7 million in the third quarter of 2009 and a loss of $1.0 million in the second quarter of 2010. GAAP net earnings included $2.4 million in amortization of intangible assets and $0.4 million in stock-based compensation costs. The former item resulted in an income tax recovery of $0.2 million.
