Dell posts record operating results in fiscal Q4

Dell`s fiscal fourth-quarter 2004 was its best operating period ever. The company achieved record product shipments, revenue, operating and net income, and earnings per share.

Dell continued its leading growth in enterprise computing. Shipments of PowerEdge servers jumped 40% from the year-ago quarter, more than double the rate for the rest of the industry. Storage revenue was 47% higher. And company strength was global: product shipments were up more than 30% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and in Asia-Pacific and Japan, and exceeded 20% in the Americas.

Company revenue for the quarter ended 30 January was $11.5 billion, 18% higher than a year ago. Net earnings were 29c per share, up 26%. Full-year sales were $41.4 billion, operating income was $3.5 billion and per-share earnings were $1.01, all Dell records.

"Dell is alone in simultaneously providing customers great value, growing faster than the industry and earning a compelling profit for investors," said Kevin Rollins, the company`s president and chief operating officer. "Doing that requires a high-quality, low-cost business model and great discipline. We have both.

"Much of the industry`s quarterly growth was at the low ends of the desktop and notebook categories, which offer little if any profitability. Dell met its operating targets by pursuing profitable growth."

Dell`s profitability was up strongly from a year ago, both in absolute terms and as a percent of revenue. Fourth-quarter operating income was $981 million, or 8.5% of revenue. Operating expenses were 9.6% of revenue, matching a company low and down from 9.9% in the year-ago quarter. Below operating income, strong sales and earnings growth in markets outside the US resulted in a lower effective tax rate.

Industry-leading profits and efficient asset management helped Dell generate $1.1 billion in cash from operations. Total cash and investments at the end of the quarter were $11.9 billion, the highest in company history.

Rollins said Dell expects first-quarter fiscal-2005 product shipments to rise more than 20%, ahead of anticipated industry growth. The resulting company volume should produce quarterly revenue of $11.2 billion, up about 17% from the prior year, and earnings per share of 28c, up 22%.

With record sales in the fourth quarter, the company reached $8.5 billion in full-year revenue in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), 23% more than in fiscal 2003. Quarterly company product shipments in the region rose 33%, highlighted by increases in the three largest national markets: the United Kingdom, France and Germany. Without Dell, industry volumes were up 20%.

Total product shipments in Asia-Pacific and Japan increased 34%, those for servers 36%. Absent Dell, the regional industry was up just 9% overall, 10% in servers. In China, already the region`s second-largest national market, combined company volumes of servers and notebook computers were 47% higher.

Dell product shipments in the Americas rose 22%, thanks to solid increases in all customer segments. Total volumes in Canada, Mexico and Brazil were up 25%. Growth in systems sold to US consumers was 26%, more than twice the average of other companies.

Trek to the summit

00Days

:

00Hrs

:

00Min

:

00Sec

Dell`s 40% increase in server shipments earned the company nearly two additional points of market share versus a year ago. In the United States, where Dell is the category leader, server volumes were up 49%, two-and-a-half times the rate of the rest of the industry. Sales from PowerVault and Dell/EMC external storage systems are now at a $1.8 billion annual run rate.

Revenue from software and peripheral (S&P) products rose 36% in the fourth quarter. Dell`s own products-including printers and accessories, LCD television/computer monitors, handheld devices and digital projectors-accounted for nearly half of S&P sales.

Since their introduction in March, Dell has sold more than 2 million of its printers. Fourth-quarter volumes were nearly double those for Q3. Customer feedback shows exceptional satisfaction with Dell`s unique ink-management process, which alerts users on their computer screens when ink is low, provides a link to purchase replacement cartridges online and ships 99.8% of orders the same day.

In January, Dell announced it would expand its imaging line through new technology partnerships with Fuji Xerox Co Ltd, Eastman Kodak Co and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, and its successful existing relationship with Lexmark International Inc.

Shipments of Inspiron and Latitude notebook computers were up 40%, ahead of the rest of the industry. Volumes of Dimension and OptiPlex desktop computers rose 21%, compared with an average 8% for other companies.