Molex reports record revenue

Revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2006 was a record $720.3 million, an increase of 17.5% over the same period last fiscal year. Revenue in local currencies increased 21.5%, compared with last year's third quarter. Revenue for the March quarter rose 3.3% sequentially from the quarter ended December 31, 2005. Net income for the March quarter was $61.5 million, or $0.33 per share, compared with $44.8 million, or $0.24 per share in the prior year quarter. Included in the current quarter results was a restructuring charge of $4.3 million ($3.1 million after-tax or approximately $0.02 per share), relating to the previously announced restructuring program. Net income for the March quarter rose 5.1% sequentially from the quarter ended December 31, 2005. Revenue growth was broad-based during the quarter, with nearly all major markets and geographies showing significant improvement. When compared with last year's third quarter, revenue in the mobile phone and consumer markets increased 39% and 12% respectively. Revenue in the automotive market was up 18%, while revenue in the industrial market increased 26%. Revenue in the telecom infrastructure market increased 32%, continuing a recovery that began in late calendar 2005. Martin P. Slark, CEO and Vice-Chairman commented, "We continued to benefit from our strength in Japan and China, as well as in many of the world's emerging markets. We also were pleased to see further improvement in both the Americas and European regions, driven by broad gains in most industry markets. We maintained good momentum with orders establishing a significant new record, and ended the March quarter with a backlog 19.1% above the prior December 2005 quarter. Looking at our markets, the mobile phone and consumer markets continued to be strong, and we did not experience the seasonal slowdown normally seen in the March quarter. These markets continue to be driven by requirements for higher functionality and mobility within customer's applications, resulting in higher content for newer products based primarily upon micro-miniature technology. This technology is a major strength of Molex, and is a significant contributor to growth in a broad array of other markets. The strength in the telecom infrastructure market was also driven by micro-miniature, as well as our high-speed and optical technologies. In addition, growth also was impressive in the global distribution channel." Revenue for the nine-months ended March 31, 2006 was $2.08 billion, an increase of 9.1% compared with the same period in the prior fiscal year. Net income of $166.7 million, or $0.89 per share, rose 11.4% compared with last year's net income of $149.6 million, or $0.78 per share. Included in the current year results was a restructuring charge of $15.7 million ($11.8 million after-tax or approximately $0.06 per share), relating to the previously announced restructuring program. Also included in the current year was the impact of adopting SFAS No. 123(R) of $9.9 million ($6.8 million after-tax or approximately $0.03 per share), when compared to the prior year. For the nine-months ended March 31, 2006, currency translation lowered net revenue by $25.0 million and net income by $5.1 million.