Harris Broadcast Revenue Up 20% Compared to Previous Quarter

Harris CEO Howard Lance says his company performed well in all four of its business segments in its fiscal 2006. The company also increased its earnings outlook for fiscal ’07.
In broadcast, operating performance has improved significantly, he said. “We have expanded the breadth of our Broadcast Communications business through new product introductions and acquisitions, which we expect will drive higher growth in the coming year.”
The company reported overall revenue for the fourth quarter of $992 million, a 21 percent increase compared to the same period last year. For all of fiscal 2006, Harris Corp. revenue was $3.5 billion, up 16 percent. Net income was also up.
Revenue within the Broadcast Communications segment was $172 million in the quarter, up 50 percent from the same time last year; that includes new revenue from the October 2005 purchase of Leitch Technology. Harris said improvement in operating performance “resulted from higher gross margins, which have benefited significantly from fiscal year 2006 cost-reduction actions” and from the addition of video and digital media products from Leitch.
“Sequentially, (broadcast) revenue increased 20 percent, driven by demand for HD Radio transmission systems, networking products, software systems, sales of European transmission equipment and video distribution and digital media products.”
Orders benefited from “several large contracts for software systems and increased demand for radio transmission systems, including the new Flexstar family of HD Radio products.”