(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061026/CGTH082LOGO) Fourth Quarter 2007 Financial highlights: -- Total revenue of $1.217 billion, up 99% from $611 million in fourth quarter 2006 -- Automotive/Mobile segment revenue increased 124% to $999 million in fourth quarter 2007 -- Aviation segment revenue increased 16% to $71 million in fourth quarter 2007 -- Outdoor/Fitness segment revenue increased 43% to $114 million in fourth quarter 2007 -- Marine segment revenue increased 31% to $33 million in fourth quarter 2007 -- All geographic areas experienced significant growth: * North America revenue was $836 million compared to $393 million, up 113% * Europe revenue was $338 million compared to $194 million, up 74% * Asia revenue was $43 million compared to $24 million, up 79% -- Diluted earnings per share increased 70% to $1.39 from $0.82 in fourth quarter 2006; excluding foreign exchange, EPS increased 51% to $1.31 from $0.87 in the same quarter in 2006. Fiscal Year 2007 Financial highlights: -- Total revenue of $3.18 billion, up 79% from $1.77 billion in 2006 -- Automotive/Mobile segment revenue increased 115% to $2.34 billion in 2007 -- Aviation segment revenue increased 27% to $295 million in 2007 -- Marine segment revenue increased 22% to $203 million in 2007 -- Outdoor/Fitness segment revenue increased 19% to $340 million in 2007 -- Revenue from our automotive/mobile segment continued to become a larger portion of total company revenues when compared with 2006, at 74% of total revenues. -- All geographic areas experienced significant growth: * North America revenue was $2.067 billion compared to $1.094 billion, up 89% * Europe revenue was $969 million compared to $593 million, up 63% * Asia revenue was $144 million compared to $87 million, up 66% -- Diluted earnings per share increased 66% to $3.89 from $2.35 in 2006; excluding foreign exchange, EPS increased 62% to $3.80 from $2.35 in 2006. -- Over 12 million units sold during fiscal 2007 -- a new and exciting benchmark -- which brings the total Garmin units sold worldwide to over 31 million units. Business highlights: -- Strong sales in our automotive/mobile segment continued to exceed our expectations and are expected to drive much of our growth during 2008. -- Aviation, marine, and outdoor/fitness segments all posted double-digit growth in 2007, and we anticipate stronger performance in 2008. -- Strong holiday sales drove unit sales in the fourth quarter to over 5.5 million units -- just slightly less than the total number of units sold in all of 2006. These unit sales reflect an increase of 177% from the same quarter in 2006. -- We continue to build out our third Taiwan manufacturing facility, increasing the number of production lines to 36 and production capacity at the end of the fourth quarter to an annual run rate of nearly 20 million units. Expansion of our engineering and office space in Taiwan continues. -- We continue work on the expansion of our North American warehouse in Olathe, Kansas, with expected completion in March 2008. We have also begun planning to expand our headquarters and research and development facilities in Olathe. -- Acquisitions of distributors in France, Germany, Spain, and Italy were completed in 2007. In early 2008 we completed the acquisition of our distributor in Denmark as well. These activities are part of our ongoing efforts to increase our market share in Europe.
Executive overview from Dr. Min Kao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer:
"Garmin experienced an exciting fourth quarter, which brought a strong finish to fiscal 2007. The strong holiday season demand we experienced clearly demonstrated that our products are well-positioned to take advantage of the growing interest in portable navigation devices. Independent market research indicates we have maintained a strong leadership position in North America, and our market position in Europe continues to improve as well.
"We were prepared to meet the strong demand for our automotive/mobile products. We effectively managed inventory to meet holiday demand; as anticipated, we ended 2007 with appropriate inventory levels in our retail channels. We remain committed to proper inventory planning as we enter 2008. As the automotive/mobile segment continues to become a larger portion of our business, we expect our business to experience even stronger seasonality for 2008 and beyond. As such, we intend to more effectively level our production requirements and our inventory levels throughout the year. We believe our strategy of extensive market segmentation using our popular nuvi(R) product offerings will continue to drive positive results. Useful content and competitive features integrated into reliable, easy-to-use products at attractive price points are what customers want -- and what they receive when they choose Garmin. Given growth in our existing markets and opportunities we see in new markets during 2008, we anticipate automotive/mobile segment revenues will grow 45% in 2008.
"Our aviation segment grew steadily throughout 2007. Positive response to our WAAS and GMX200 product offerings and growth in the sales of our G1000(R) cockpit continued. Wins for our G1000 cockpit for future microjets and business jet as well as retrofit opportunities are expected to continue to create additional strength in this segment during the second half of 2008. We anticipate aviation segment revenue is positioned to grow 30% in 2008.
"Our marine segment also showed steady growth in 2007, as our revolutionary new marine products and cartography created opportunities to draw customers to our products. While marine segment revenues typically decline sequentially in third and fourth quarter each year, in 2007, results continued to be seasonally strong during these quarters. We expect our exciting suite of marine products, as well as additional new products to be released this year, will allow the marine segment to post revenue growth of 25% in 2008.
"Holiday season demand for our outdoor/fitness products was strong, as we posted over 40% revenue growth for this segment when compared with the same quarter in 2006. Increased sales generated by the new Astro(TM) dog tracking product, as well as new products with high-sensitivity GPS drove growth in the latter part of 2007. We see continued growth opportunities for this segment and anticipate that outdoor/fitness segment revenue is positioned to grow 25% in 2008."
Financial overview from Kevin Rauckman, Chief Financial Officer:
"We are clearly very pleased with our financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2007," said Kevin Rauckman, chief financial officer of Garmin Ltd. "Our revenue and earnings per share during 2007 grew 79% and 66% respectively, exceeding our expectations. Garmin has now completed seven years as a public company and has consistently generated top line and bottom line growth, with a 7-year compounded annual growth rate of revenue and earnings per share of 37% and 33%, respectively.
