NDS Reports Higher Annual Revenues, Higher Income

Submitted by itvt on October 9, 2008 - 4:19am

Interactive TV and conditional access technology provider, NDS--which is in the process of being taken private via a deal that will see News Corp. retaining a 49% stake in the company and investment firm, Permira, taking a 51% stake--has released financial results for its fiscal year, ended June 30th:

Revenues totaled $850.1 million, compared to $709.5 million for the previous fiscal year--an increase of 20%. Revenues from the company's conditional access technologies were up 17% over the previous fiscal year, revenues from license fees and royalties were up 12%, and revenues from new technologies were up 40% (primarily due, the company said, to "higher revenues from our DVR technologies, advanced middleware, IPTV, gaming applications and residential gateway devices").
Operating income totaled $195.4 million, compared to $160.4 million for the previous year--an increase of 21.8%.
Net income totaled $160.1 million, or $2.72 per diluted share, compared to $135.7 million, or $2.33 per diluted share, for the previous year.
The company's middleware was deployed in 30.7 million devices during the fiscal year, compared to 18.2 million during the previous fiscal year. At the end of the fiscal year, it had been deployed in a total of 92.5 million devices, compared to 61.8 million at the end of the previous year.
The company's DVR clients were deployed in 5.8 million devices during the fiscal year, compared to 3.8 million during the previous fiscal year. At the end of the fiscal year, they had been deployed in a total of 13.1 million devices, compared to 7.3 million at the end of the previous fiscal year.
The company's conditional access software was deployed in 14.9 million net new devices during the fiscal year, compared to 10.4 million during the previous fiscal year. At the end of the fiscal year, it had been deployed in 90.3 million devices, compared to 75.4 million at the end of the previous fiscal year.
At the end of the year, the company's cash and cash-equivalents totaled $735 million.

"NDS has completed another year with strong results on all our key metrics, subscriber growth, middleware and DVR shipments, and strong performance of our Orbis subsidiary," NDS chairman and CEO, Abe Peled, said in a prepared statement. "Our fiscal 2008 performance has benefited from continued strong execution and key new customer wins. Of particular note are our successful penetration of the German cable and satellite market, and our wins in India and Malaysia. We also extended the terms of our CA contracts with our largest customers. Our reported performance benefited overall from the continued weakness of the US dollar. Unfortunately, as we look into fiscal 2009, the continuing strength of the Israeli shekel will make fiscal 2009 a very challenging year. We plan to invest in our business in order to continue to provide first-rate technology and support to our customers in their current business, as well as to prepare for the challenges and opportunities presented by the rapid penetration of broadband and the changing viewing patterns it makes possible."