GARMIN : NEWS TOMTOM

Profil supprimé

21 juil. 2008 •20:06

demand holds
Jul 21 2008 1:18PM EDT

By Niclas Mika

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch navigation devices maker TomTom beat analysts' expectations with a rebound of sales and operating profit after a first-quarter slump and said consumer demand for its products had held up.

Europe's largest maker of GPS sets said on Monday it sold 3.1 million units in the second quarter for sales of 453 million euros ($720 million). It had been expected to post sales of 426 million euros, according to the average in a Reuters poll of 10 analysts.

Earnings before interest and tax jumped to 92 million euros from 9 million in the first quarter, beating all but one estimate in a range of 59 million to 101 million. The average was 71 million.

"Consumer demand for our products and services proved resilient in the face of difficult macro-economic conditions," Chief Executive Harold Goddijn said in a statement.

Analysts have said TomTom's second-quarter results would be crucial to restoring investor confidence after the company shocked shareholders in April by cutting its 2008 outlook and posting results barely above break-even for the first quarter.

Shares in TomTom closed 6.7 percent higher before the news, but at 16.05 euros they were still substantially below their all-time high of 68.15 euros touched in October.

TomTom, whose main competitor is U.S. market leader Garmin , said its 2008 outlook remained intact with expected revenue between 1.8 billion and 2 billion euros for its navigation device business.

Combined with Tele Atlas, which TomTom is consolidating from June, its revenue outlook is 1.95 billion to 2.15 billion euros.

TomTom also repeated it expects to sell between 14 million and 15 million navigation devices in 2008.

The company said its net debt -- resulting from the 2.9 billion euro takeover of map maker Tele Atlas -- amounted to 1.3 billion euros at the end of the quarter, equivalent to 2.8 times core earnings.

"TomTom is comfortable with the covenants of the loan based on how we see the business going forward. We expect further de-leveraging over the coming years, reaching levels below 2.5 times by the end of 2009," it said.

"At first glance, the numbers look very good," an analyst said, adding TomTom's net debt was low enough that the company would not have to issue shares to meet its loan covenants.

TomTom had been due to release its results on Tuesday, but company spokesman Taco Titulaer said the company had wanted to give investors more time to digest the news as Tele Atlas was consolidated for the first time.

It will hold a conference call on Tuesday as planned.

(Editing by Paul Bolding)