Avnet posts record revenue and operating income

Net income for fourth quarter fiscal 2007 was $124.7 million, or $0.81 per share on a diluted basis, as compared with net income of $58.8 million, or $0.40 per share on a diluted basis, for the fourth quarter last year. Excluding certain items noted below, net income was a record $123.9 million, or $0.81 per share on a diluted basis, representing a 42.4% and 37.3% increase, respectively, over the year-ago period. The Company's effective tax rate for the 2007 fiscal year came in at approximately 33%, thereby positively impacting its fourth quarter results by roughly $0.02 per share. Operating income for fourth quarter fiscal 2007 was $196.9 million, up 35.8% as compared with operating income of $145.0 million in the year ago quarter. Excluding certain items in both periods as noted below, operating income increased 29.0% over the prior-year quarter to a record $195.8 million. Operating income as a percent of sales, excluding certain items in both periods, was 4.6%, up 42 basis points from last year's fourth quarter, with both operating groups performing within their targeted range for the second consecutive quarter. Roy Vallee, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Our fourth quarter results continued to demonstrate the operating leverage in our business model as strong execution in both operating groups resulted in record setting performances. Record revenue and operating income combined with strong asset velocity drove return on capital employed above our 12.5% target. I am very pleased with our fourth quarter results and the consistent improvement in our key financial metrics." Revenue of $15.68 billion for fiscal 2007, also a record, was up 10.0% over fiscal 2006 revenue of $14.25 billion. Organic revenue growth, as defined in the Non-GAAP Financial Information section, was up 5.7% over the prior year. Net income for fiscal 2007 was $393.1 million, or $2.63 per share on a diluted basis, as compared with net income of $204.5 million, or $1.39 per share on a diluted basis, in fiscal 2006. Excluding certain items noted below, net income and diluted earnings per share for fiscal 2007 were up 50.1% and 47.6% to a record $413.1 million and $2.76, respectively, as compared with fiscal 2006. Including items described in the table below, fiscal 2007 operating income grew 56.6% to $678.3 million as compared with fiscal 2006 operating income of $433.1 million. Excluding these items in both fiscal years, operating income grew 36.3% year over year to $685.6 million and operating income as a percent of sales was 4.4%, an increase of 84 basis points over fiscal year 2006 operating income margin of 3.5%. This represents the fifth consecutive year of year over year growth in both operating income and operating income margin. Mr. Vallee further commented, “Fiscal 2007 was another example of the impact that our value based management initiatives have had on our business operations as operating income grew more than three times faster than revenue. While growth in our end markets slowed this year, our global team stayed focused and executed well on the things we can control. As a result, we were able to deliver consistent improvement in our financial metrics over each of the past four quarters. I would like to congratulate and thank Avnet employees around the world for achieving all of our key financial targets including operating margin, working capital velocity and return metrics simultaneously."