On strong sales of its ‘infotainment’ systems to automakers, Harm...
On strong sales of its “infotainment” systems to automakers, Harman International reported first-quarter net income improved to $53.9 million from $33.6 million as revenue jumped to $754.6 million from $691.7 million. Sales to automakers increased 5.2% from a year…
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ago to $520.3 million, but were down from $571.3 million in the 4th quarter, company officials said. The quarter-to- quarter downturn in automotive revenue was tied to a decrease in sales to Chrysler, company officials said. CE sales jumped 30.5% to $111.4 million and were up from $105.2 million in the 4th quarter. In the professional business, revenue rose 9.9% to $123 million, but were down from $131.6 million in the 4th quarter. Overall gross margins improved to 35.3% from 32% a year earlier due largely to strong sales of Harman’s JBL brand OnStage and OnTour speaker products for Apple’s iPod. It also benefitted from initial sales of the Drive + Play iPod docking station designed for car use. Those product helped boost Harman’s CE margins to 35% from 26% a year earlier. Harman’s new agreement to supply infotainment system for Mercedes S-Class vehicles produced $4 million in incremental revenue during the quarter and is forecast to produce an additional $100 million for the fiscal year, CFO Kevin Brown said. Harman also landed a new agreement to supply infotainment systems for Peugeot vehicles from the entry level through “several levels of the high-end,” Exec. Chmn. Sidney Harman told analysts in an earnings conference call. Harman declined to release a sales forecast for the Peugeot deal. The company also formed a joint venture with S. Korean navigation software developer Mavis. Harman has a controlling stake in the venture, which Sidney Harman described as a “relatively modest investment” in declining to release further details.