ROMANEL-SUR-MORGES, Switzerland, July 22, 2004 — Logitech International (SWX: LOGN) (Nasdaq: LOGI) today reported record Q1 sales and profitability, as the Company continued to execute on its growth strategy. For Logitech’s first fiscal quarter, ended June 30, 2004, sales were $267 million, up 22 percent from $218 million for the same quarter one year ago. Gross margin was 34.1 percent – the highest-ever Q1 gross margin for the Company – up from 27.8 percent last year, representing a year-over-year improvement of 629 basis points. Operating income was $21.6 million, up 175 percent from $7.9 million last year. Net income for the quarter was $18.9 million ($.39 per share), up 231 percent from $5.7 million ($0.12 per share) in the prior year.
Logitech’s retail sales were up 32 percent from one year ago, reflecting robust performance among the Company’s core product categories, including cordless mice, webcams and gaming peripherals for PCs and consoles. As anticipated, Logitech’s OEM sales weakened during the first quarter, falling 11 percent over the same quarter last year, due to a steep decline in OEM sales of peripherals for gaming consoles. Offsetting part of this decline, OEM sales of computer mice were up by 25 percent over last year.
“We’re pleased with this exceptional Q1 performance,” said Guerrino De Luca, Logitech’s president and chief executive officer. “The very healthy growth in our core product categories – especially cordless and webcams – underscores the substantial opportunity they represent, and validates our market development efforts. We’re also particularly pleased by our gross margin, which exceeded our expectations, and is a strong indicator of the value of our unique combination of premium brand, attractive products and efficient manufacturing, in a market that remains extremely competitive.”
Highlights for Logitech’s first fiscal quarter of 2005 include:
· Retail sales and unit shipments of cordless mice more than doubled year over year, up by 121 percent and 126 percent, respectively.
· The Company reached the milestone of shipping more than 50 million cordless peripherals (keyboards, mice and trackballs) since its first introduction of cordless devices.
· Retail sales and unit shipments of webcams more than doubled year over year, up by 120 percent and 128 percent, respectively.
· Logitech announced that users of MSN have logged more than one billion video instant messaging sessions using Webcam for MSN Messenger, a feature that Logitech has provided to MSN since March 2003.
· Retail sales of gaming peripherals for PCs and consoles nearly doubled (up by 99 percent) and unit shipments increased by 107 percent over last year.
· Logitech received a gold and a silver 2004 Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) from the Industrial Designers Society of America (ISDA).
· The integration of the Harmony remote control business into Logitech’s ongoing business proceeded on schedule, following the purchase in May 2004 of Intrigue Technologies.
· During Q1, Logitech repurchased 746,500 of its shares for a total of 43 million Swiss francs ($34 million), as part of the share buyback program approved by the Company’s board of directors on April 8, 2004.
· Cash flow from operations was $55 million for Q1, up $44 million over the same quarter last year.
For the full Fiscal Year 2005, ending March 31, 2005, the Company reaffirmed its targets for 11 percent growth in revenue and 15 percent growth in operating income, year over year. “Based on strong retail momentum during Q1,” continued Mr. De Luca, “we now expect that for the remainder of the fiscal year, retail sales will grow faster than originally anticipated. Consistent with the Q1 performance, we now also expect OEM sales to decline year over year. The anticipated strength of our retail sales should allow us to accelerate our strategy to invest in marketing, product development and infrastructure to drive future growth, while maintaining our focus on our Fiscal 2005 targets.”
Logitech will hold an earnings teleconference on July 22, 2004 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time/14:00 Central European Time to discuss these results. In addition, a live webcast and replay of the teleconference will be available on the Logitech corporate Web site at www.logitech.com/investors. Please visit the Web site at least 10 minutes early to register for the teleconference webcast.
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About Logitech
Founded in 1981, Logitech designs, manufactures and markets personal peripherals that enable people to effectively work, play, and communicate in the digital world. Logitech International is a Swiss public company traded on the Swiss Stock Exchange (LOGN) and in the U.S. on the Nasdaq National Market System (LOGI). The company has manufacturing facilities in Asia and offices in major cities in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
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