A virtuous blend of a stronger economy and rising demand from offices, contact centers and for unified communications, or UC, products cranked Plantronics’ first quarter fiscal 2011 net revenues to $170.7 million, well past $160-$165 million in its May 4 guidance and 21 percent above $141.2 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2010.
Plantronics’ (News - Alert) generally accepted accounting principles diluted earnings per share from continuing operations--$0.52 in the first quarter of fiscal 2011--nearly doubled the $0.27 recorded in the same period fiscal 2010. Non-GAAP diluted earnings jumped in the first quarter 2011 by 45 percent over the same quarter 2010 to $0.58 per share. The difference between GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations for the first quarter of fiscal 2011 includes stock-based compensation charges and purchase accounting amortization, both net of associated tax benefits.
GAAP operating income rose to $35.9 million in the first quarter 2011, resulting in an operating margin of 21 percent, from $17.6 million and an operating margin of 12.4 percent in the prior year quarter. Non-GAAP operating income in the first quarter of fiscal 2011 reached $40 million compared with previously provided guidance of $32.5 million to $35.5 million, generating an operating margin of 23.4 percent. This compares favorably to non-GAAP operating income of $25.2 million and an operating margin of 17.9 percent from continuing operations in the prior year quarter.
Plantronics cited improved economic conditions and the trend toward UC led to increases in net revenues in its Office and Contact Center, or OCC, products. OCC net revenues hit $117.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2011, an increase of 23 percent from $95.9 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2010.
“We generated approximately $32 million in cash flow from operations and maintained over $360 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short term investments while repurchasing approximately 1.5 million shares through our repurchase programs during the quarter,” stated Barbara Scherer (News - Alert), SVP Finance and Administration and CFO.
More such growth appears to be on the way. Plantronics recently expanded its UC product portfolio with the Plantronics Savi 430, which it believes is the industry’s first wireless PC headset with a DECT (News - Alert) USB adapter. The Plantronics Savi 430 provides corporate, educational and institutional professionals at large campuses with wideband audio quality for clear, natural sounding voice conversations on the PC and greater range through the use of DECT wireless technology.
Plantronics also came out with new audio functions and tools for the IBM (News - Alert) Lotus Sametime and Sametime Unified Telephony products. The Plantronics Plug-in for Sametime is new software that delivers intelligent call control between Plantronics’ full UC product portfolio and IBM Sametime, providing users with exceptional online meeting and telephony experiences with enhanced audio quality.
“Revenues from the OCC products grew in all geographies compared with the same period in the prior year. Contributions from Unified Communications (News - Alert) product sales continue to grow and, at $9.8 million, we believe UC now represents over 10 percent of our office product net revenues,” stated Ken Kannappan, Plantronics President and CEO.
Brendan B. Read is TMCnet’s Senior Contributing Editor. To read more of Brendan’s articles, please visit his columnist page.
