As expected, Arris’ first-quarter revenue was down compared with the same quarter a year ago, but Chairman and CEO Bob Stanzione sees light at the end of the tunnel.
Partially based on fewer orders from Comcast, Arris lowered its expectations for the first quarter in February, and that was borne out by the company’s revenue of $253.5 million, which was down from the $273.5 million it posted in the same quarter a year ago. Arris’ revenues from the fourth quarter of 2008 were $292.4 million.
Arris’ net income in the first quarter was $12.9 million, or 10 cents per diluted share, compared with first-quarter 2008 net income of $3.8 million, or 3 cents per diluted share.
The company ended the first quarter of 2009 with $424.4 million of cash and short-term investments, which compares with $427.3 million at the end of 2008. Arris said it generated approximately $13.8 million of cash from operating activities in the first quarter of 2009. This amount compares with cash generated from operating activities of $30.5 million during the first quarter of 2008. Arris used $10.6 million of cash to retire $15 million face value convertible debt in the first quarter 2009.
Order backlog at the end of the first quarter of 2009 was $155 million, and the company’s book-to-bill ratio in the first quarter was approximately 1.16. This amount compares with an order backlog of $114.8 million and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.9 for the fourth quarter of 2008.
“First of all, the results, even though down somewhat from the fourth quarter of 2008, are well within the guidance that we gave in spite of the uncertainties that we experienced at the beginning of 2009,” Stanzione said on yesterday’s conference call. “More importantly, when I look back at the year-over-year comparisons, although our revenues are down by $20 million, we are far more profitable than we were a year ago.
“During the quarter we have seen positive signs in our business that, coupled with the current plans of our customers, gives me cautious optimism that our business will gain momentum in the second quarter and beyond.”
Arris said its projected revenue for the second quarter of this year was in the range of $270 million to $290 million.
