Archive 2002

NovAtel Reports Profit for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2001

FOR RELEASE 21/02/02

Contact: Sonia Ross (403) 295-4532

 

(Calgary, Alberta, Canada, February 21, 2002) — NovAtel Inc. (NASDAQ: NGPS), a global positioning systems manufacturer, today announced results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2001. 

Revenues in the fourth quarter 2001 were CDN $7.8 million (US $4.9 million) compared to CDN $5.8 million (US $3.6 million) in the same period a year ago and CDN $6.9 million (US $4.3 million) in the previous quarter.   The Company is reporting net income for the fourth quarter 2001 of CDN $766,000 (US $481,000) or CDN $0.10 (US $0.06) per share compared with a net loss of CDN $1.4 million (US $854,000) or CDN $(0.18) (US $(0.11)) per share in the same period a year ago.

For the full year ended December 31, 2001, revenues were CDN $28.2 million (US $17.8 million), up from CDN $24.8 million (US $15.6 million) in the same period a year ago.  The Company earned net income of CDN $110,000 (US $69,000) for the full year, or CDN $0.01 (US $0.01) per share, compared with a net loss of CDN $2.8 million (US $1.8 million) in 2000.

“NovAtel had an exceptional fourth quarter in 2001, highlighted by the continued commitment of the Chinese government to deploy SNAS, their WAAS-equivalent system,” said David Vaughn. “These fourth quarter results, along with the improved bottom line performance of the third quarter, allowed us to put together our first profitable year since 1997.”

“Earlier this year, NovAtel focused its resources on growing the top line revenue while putting in place a number of cost-saving programs, including an across-the-board salary cut of 10%.  These steps were taken in an effort to turn NovAtel into a profitable company,” continued Vaughn.  “Our performance in 2001 exceeded our internal targets and allowed us to not only reinstate our employees’ full salaries but also to reimburse to them all the moneys contributed by our salary reduction program.”

“Getting NovAtel profitable in these difficult times has been a real team effort, and we all look forward to continued profitability in 2002,” concluded Vaughn.

The Company will have a conference call this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. E.T.  Participants may access the NovAtel Inc. conference call by dialing 1-888-293-1928 (North America) or 212-993-0209 (International).  This call is being webcast by CCBN and can be accessed at NovAtel’s web site at www.novatel.ca.

The webcast is also being distributed over CCBN’s Investor Distribution Network to both institutional and individual investors.  Individual investors can listen to the call through CCBN’s individual investor center at www.companyboardroom.com or by visiting any of the investor sites in CCBN’s Individual Investor Network such as America Online’s Personal Finance Channel, Fidelity Investments® (Fidelity.com) and others.   Institutional investors can access the call via CCBN’s password-protected event management site, StreetEvents (www.streetevents.com). 

A replay of the conference call will be available until February 26, 2002 by dialing 1-800-558-5253 and entering reservation number 20351811, or until May 21, 2002 at the web addresses noted above.

NovAtel Inc. designs, markets and supports a broad range of products that determine precise geographic locations using the Global Positioning System (GPS) and is the principal supplier of reference receivers to WAAS ground networks around the world.  NovAtel’s GPS products are used principally for applications in precision markets such as the surveying, geographic information systems, aviation, marine, mining and machine control, agriculture and precise timing markets.  For further information please visit our website at www.novatel.com.

Certain statements in this news release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, or developments in the Company's industry, to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.  Such factors include, but are not limited to, operating results of subsidiaries and joint ventures, establishing and maintaining effective distribution channels, certification and market acceptance of the Company's new products, impact and timing of large orders, pricing pressures in the market and other competitive factors, maintaining technological leadership, timing of revenue recognition in connection with certain contracts, the ability to maintain supply of products from subcontract manufacturers, the procurement of components to build products, and the impact of industry consolidations, together with the other risks and uncertainties described in public filings.

NOVATEL INC.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in Canadian $ thousands)

			December 31,		December 31,
			2001		2000
ASSETS
Current assets:
	Cash and short term investments...............................................		$     4,794		$     6,055
	Accounts receivable.....................................................................		6,050		4,246
	Related party receivables............................................................		665		1,165
	Related party notes receivable....................................................		1,595		1,426
	Inventories..................................................................................		6,562		6,532
	Prepaid expenses and deposits..................................................		286		401
		Total current assets.................................................................	19,952		19,825
Capital assets..................................................................................			2,854		3,592
Intangible assets.............................................................................			2,487		2,853
Deferred development costs............................................................			2,528		2,560
Total assets			$   27,821		$   28,830
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities:
	Accounts payable and accrued liabilities.....................................		$     4,469		$     5,811
	Related party payables..............................................................		418		568
	Notes payable............................................................................		1,964		1,426
	Deferred revenue.......................................................................		202		245
	Provision for future warranty costs............................................		285		268
	Capital lease obligation - current portion...................................		___330		___228
		Total current liabilities.............................................................	7,668		8,546
Deferred gain on sale/leaseback of capital assets..........................			814		935
Capital lease obligation - long-term portion....................................			___253		___307
	Total liabilities............................................................................		8,735		9,788
Non-controlling interest..................................................................			_____		____73
Shareholders' equity:
Capital stock....................................................................................			35,596		35,614
Contributed surplus.........................................................................			25		__
Deficit...............................................................................................			_(16,535)		_(16,645)
Total shareholders' equity...............................................................			19,086		18,969
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity.........................................			$   27,821		$   28,830

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(in Canadian $ thousands, except per share data)

 

			Three months ended		Year ended
			Dec. 31, 2001	Dec. 31, 2000	Dec. 31, 2001	Dec. 31, 2000
Revenues.......................................................			$ 7,812	$ 5,766	$ 28,237	$ 24,843
Cost of sales..................................................			__3,003	__2,611	_13,272	_10,842
Gross profit....................................................			__4,809	__3,155	_14,965	_14,001
Operating expenses:
	Research and development.......................		1,603	1,986	6,827	8,161
	Selling and marketing................................		1,239	927	3,859	4,527
	General and administration.......................		__1,168	____881	__4,170	__3,661
		Total operating expenses.....................	__4,010	__3,794	_14,856	_16,349
Operating income (loss).................................			799	(639)	109	(2,348)
Interest income.............................................			16	78	138	319
Other expense..............................................			___(49)	__(767)	__(124))	__(769
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes......................................			766	(1,328)	123	(2,798)
Provision for income taxes.............................			______	_____21	_____13	_____13
Net income (loss) from continuing operations.			766	(1,349)	110	(2,811)
Net income (loss) from discontinued operations			______	(12)	______	16
Net income (loss)............................................			$ 766	$ (1,361)	$ 110	$ (2,795)
Net income (loss) per share (basic):
	Continuing operations...............................		_$_0.10	_$ (0.18)	$ 0.01	$ (0.37)
	Discontinued operations............................		__	__	__	0.01
	Net income (loss) per share.......................		$ 0.10	$ (0.18)	$ 0.01	$ (0.36)
	Weighted average shares outstanding (basic).......................................................		7,683	7,678	7,690	7,676
Net income (loss) per share (diluted):
	Continuing operations..............................		$ 0.10	$ (0.18)	$ 0.01	$ (0.37)
	Discontinued operations...........................		______	______	______	__0.01
		Net income (loss) per share.................	$ 0.10	$ (0.18)	$ 0.01	$ (0.36)
	Weighted average shares outstanding (diluted)....................................................		7,750	7,795	7,704	7,816