SPOKANE, Wash., Feb. 6, 2002 -- Itron, Inc., today reported its financial results for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2001.
Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2001 were $64.2 million, up 34.5% from the same period last year. Full year revenues for 2001 were $225.6 million, 25% higher than 2000. Revenue growth for the full year was driven largely by expansion orders from existing customers for mobile automatic meter reading systems, including one significant customer in Electric Systems. Additional growth in the fourth quarter came from initial AMR deployments with several utilities.
Net income for the fourth quarter of 2001 was $4.9 million, or 26 cents per diluted share compared with $2.2 million, or 14 cents per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2000. Full year net income was $13.4 million, or 77 cents per diluted share in 2001, compared with $2.7 million or 18 cents per diluted share in 2000.
Pro forma net income per diluted share, which excludes restructurings, extraordinary gains, and the cumulative effect of accounting changes, all net of related tax effects, was 25 cents for the fourth quarter of 2001, compared with 14 cents in 2000. For the full year 2001, pro forma net income per diluted share was 73 cents compared with 27 cents in 2000. Prior year amounts have been revised to give effect to a change in the method of recognizing revenues on certain contracts as discussed more fully below.
"We entered 2001 with high expectations for our financial performance," commented LeRoy Nosbaum, Itron's CEO. "I am very happy to report we surpassed them all. We are seeing the results of changes we've made in the last two years to improve our business practices and focus on the bottom line. During 2001, our internal improvements converged with energy and water market trends that underscore the rising need for the technology Itron delivers, allowing us to produce the superb financial results we are reporting today."
Gross margins climbed to 45.1% for the fourth quarter of 2001 and were 43.4% for the full year 2001. Year-over-year, gross margins improved by 4% as we began to reap the full benefit of manufacturing consolidations and supply chain management initiatives that began in 2000. Increased production volumes and lower electronic component pricing in the overall market also contributed to gross margin improvements.
Operating income in the fourth quarter was 14.0% of revenues in 2001 compared with 8.7% in 2000. Full year operating income in 2001 increased to 11.5% of revenues, up from 5.4% of revenues in 2000. Higher spending in sales and marketing, principally related to a new web-based customer relationship management system, and higher new product development investments were offset by lower general and administrative spending.
