Large Format Review - Business News

Eastman Kodak Company today reported fourth-quarter 2009 earnings from continuing operations of $430 million, or $1.36 per share, on sales of $2.582 billion, reflecting the emergence of a company able to deliver improved profitability especially as the economy recovers.

"Despite a difficult economic environment, we delivered in 2009," said Antonio M. Perez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Eastman Kodak Company. "Our momentum is returning and our strategy is paying off. During 2009, we generated significant traction with our key digital businesses, we achieved sustainable operational improvements across the company, our earnings improved substantially, and we ended the year with more than $2.0 billion in cash on our balance sheet."

The company's fourth-quarter results demonstrate the success of the focused investments that Kodak is making in new products and growth businesses, including consumer and commercial inkjet and digital plates; the successful conclusion of intellectual property licensing agreements; improved profit margins; and a lean cost structure.

Fourth-quarter sales were $2.582 billion, a sequential increase of 45% from the third quarter of 2009 and a 6% increase from the year-ago quarter, including 4% of favorable foreign exchange impact. Revenue from digital businesses totaled $1.991 billion, a 12% increase from $1.779 billion in the prior-year quarter, resulting from the combination of an increase in non- recurring intellectual property licensing revenue and increased demand for consumer inkjet printer systems, kiosk media and digital plates. Revenue from the company's traditional business decreased 10% to $589 million for the fourth quarter. This revenue decline rate was significantly reduced compared to the first three quarters of 2009, reflecting sequentially improved demand across all traditional businesses, particularly Entertainment Imaging.

On the basis of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the company reported fourth-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $430 million, or $1.36 per share, compared with a loss on the same basis of $914 million, or $3.40 per share, in the year-ago period. Items of net benefit that impacted comparability in the fourth quarter of 2009 totaled $90 million after tax, or $0.28 per share, primarily related to benefits from asset sales and tax-related items, partially offset by restructuring charges and other miscellaneous items. Items of net expense that impacted comparability in the fourth quarter of 2008 totaled $893 million after tax, or $3.32 per share, primarily related to a goodwill impairment charge, restructuring charges, a legal contingency, and tax-related items. (Please refer to the attached Items of Comparability table for more information.)

For full-year 2009, the company reported a loss from continuing operations of $232 million, or $0.87 per share. This compares to a loss of $727 million, or $2.58 per share, in 2008. Full-year revenue totaled $7.606 billion, a 19% decline from 2008. Full-year digital revenue totaled $5.345 billion, a 17% decline from 2008, and traditional revenue totaled $2.257billion, a 24% decline. These results reflect the recession's impact on demand, especially in the first half of 2009. The company expects that customer demand for its digital products will continue to grow, as the economy recovers.

Other 2009 details:

• In the fourth quarter of 2009, Gross Profit margin was 34.4% of sales, an increase from 20.4% in the year-ago period. Approximately six percentage points of this increase was driven by productivity improvements and higher demand for digital plates and kiosk media, productivity gains for digital cameras and devices, consumer inkjet, electrophotographic printing and traditional photofinishing, and favorable foreign exchange. The balance of the increase was driven by non-recurring intellectual property licensing agreements.
• Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) expenses, on a GAAP basis, were $347 million in the fourth quarter, down 15%, or $61 million, from $408 million in the year-ago quarter, as a result of company-wide efficiency gains.
• Research and Development expenses, on a GAAP basis, were $86 million in the fourth quarter, down 25%, or $28 million, from $114 million in the year-ago quarter, reflecting the continued focusing of resources to core growth businesses, which require lower research and development investment versus a year ago.
• Fourth-quarter cash generation, before restructuring payments, was $909 million, compared with $508 million in the year-ago quarter. This corresponds to net cash provided by continuing operations from operating activities of $822 million for the fourth quarter of 2009 and $520 million for the year-ago period. For full-year 2009, cash generation, before restructuring payments, was $45 million, compared with cash usage on the same basis of $147 million for 2008. This corresponds to net cash used in continuing operations from operating activities of $136 million for 2009, compared with a net cash usage of $128 million for 2008.
• Kodak held $2.024 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2009, up from $1.147 billion on September 30, 2009.
• The carrying value of the company's debt, on a GAAP basis, stood at $1.191 billion as of December 31, 2009.

Segment sales and earnings from continuing operations before interest, taxes, and other income and charges (segment earnings from operations), are as follows:

• Consumer Digital Imaging Group fourth-quarter sales were $1.212 billion, a 27% increase from the prior-year quarter. Fourth-quarter earnings from operations for the segment were $380 million, compared with a loss of $41 million in the year-ago quarter. The year-over-year improvement was driven by a combination of higher non-recurring intellectual property licensing revenue; improved profitability in consumer inkjet systems, including an 81% revenue increase in consumer inkjet printer hardware and ink; improved operating performance in Digital Capture & Devices and Retail Systems Solutions; and reduced SG&A expenses across the segment. Excluding the impact of non-recurring intellectual property royalties, segment earnings improved by more than $100 million.
• Graphic Communications Group fourth-quarter 2009 sales were $779 million, a 5% decline from the fourth quarter of 2008. Fourth-quarter earnings from operations for the segment were $36 million, a $40 million improvement over the year-ago quarter. This earnings increase was primarily driven by operational improvements across all product lines, increased demand for digital plates and enterprise workflow products, and lower raw material costs.
• Film, Photofinishing and Entertainment Group fourth-quarter sales were $589 million, a 10% decline from the year-ago quarter. Fourth-quarter earnings from operations for the segment were $53 million, compared with earnings of $39 million in the year-ago period. The increase in earnings was driven by significant operational improvements in Traditional Photofinishing, cost reductions across the segment, favorable foreign exchange, and improvement in raw material costs, partially offset by industry-related volume declines in Film Capture, and negative price/mix.
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"In the second half of 2009 we began to see some improvement in the economy, and that helped to highlight the true strength of our digital portfolio," said Perez. "During 2009, we doubled the installed base for our consumer inkjet printers while maintaining our price premium. In the fourth quarter, we grew sales of commercial inkjet products, including a 33% increase in sales of our VL2000 printing system and enjoyed continued strong customer orders for our PROSPER product line. We delivered positive cash performance before restructuring for the past two quarters and for all of 2009, and our cost structure is providing us with significant operating leverage as the economic recovery continues. We enter the new year with the most competitive digital portfolio ever, strong presence in key markets, and a significant amount of positive momentum. All of this positions us well for improved performance in 2010."

With reference to the joint press releases of Canon Inc. (trading symbol CAJ) ("Canon") and Océ N.V. (trading symbol OCE) ("Océ") of 16 November 2009 and 14 December 2009, Canon Finance Netherlands B.V., a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon (the "Offeror") and Océ hereby jointly announce that the Offeror is making a fully self-funded, public cash offer for all the issued and outstanding ordinary shares with a nominal value of EUR 0.50 each in the capital of Océ (the "Shares") at an offer price of EUR 8.60 in cash per Share (the "Offer").

Terms not defined herein shall have the meaning as set forth in the Offer Memorandum

Highlights

• Canon and Océ aim to create the overall No. 1 presence in the printing industry.
• The Offer is a fully self-funded and recommended cash offer for all the Shares at an offer price of EUR 8.60 in cash per Share.
• The Offer represents a premium of 70% over the closing price of Friday 13 November 2009 (being the last trading day before the public announcement of the intended Offer) and 137% over the average share price over the last 12 months prior to 16 November 2009.
• The Offer presents the best possible way forward for Océ at conditions that are favourable to its Shareholders and all other stakeholders.
• The Supervisory Board and the Management Board of Océ fully support and unanimously recommend the Offer to all Shareholders for acceptance.
• The acceptance period under the Offer begins at 9:00 hours, Amsterdam time, on 29 January 2010 and ends at 17:30 hours, Amsterdam time, on 1 March 2010, unless extended.
• Océ will convene an Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders at 14:30 hours, Amsterdam time, on 12 February 2010 at Van der Grintenstraat 1, 5914 HD, Venlo, the Netherlands during which, amongst other things, the Offer will be discussed.
• The Offer shall be subject to the fulfilment of the Offer Conditions as set out in the Offer Memorandum, including but not limited to, the condition that on the Acceptance Closing Date the number of Tendered Shares together with the Shares that are directly or indirectly held at that time by the Offeror represents at least 85% of the Shares on a fully diluted basis. The Offeror has the right, but not the obligation, to waive certain Offer Conditions, including but not limited to, the 85% acceptance threshold, as further described in the Offer Memorandum.
• The Depositary Receipt Holders, Ducatus, ASR and ING (approximately 19% of the total share capital), agreed to sell their interests to Canon; large Shareholder Bestinver Gestion S.A., SGIIC (approximately 9.5% of the Shares) has provided an irrevocable undertaking to tender.
• As at the date of the Offer Memorandum, Canon holds indirectly through the Offeror 23,807,737 Shares, which represent approximately 22.18% of the Company's total issued share capital and 28.05% of the Shares.

Sales expert Linda Bishop trains industry professionals to rethink their selling strategy in 2010.

Linda Bishop, President of Thought Transformation, Inc. today trained members of the Graphic Arts Association (GAA) in a session entitled "Selling in Tough Times."  As the association strives to be the leading resource for the printing and graphic communications industry in many areas including education, Bishop, a sales expert and consultant, focused today's presentation on why salespeople should rethink their selling strategy in 2010 so that it more clearly reflects the buyer's evolving mindset.

Assuming the payoff is high, this year will be an opportunity for buyers to spend on projects they put off last year.  Bishop's presentation focuses on the buyer's mindset and what salespeople can do this year to not only meet, but exceed their sales goals.  Her presentation points to the fact that buyer's will take extra care in evaluating tradeoffs and usually avoid top-of-the-line options if there is a reasonable substitute available at a lesser price.

"2009 was a tough year, but I believe 2010 will be better in terms of economic indicators," said Bishop.  "It's important for salespeople to realize that if they want to outsell the competition, they need to freshen their message and approach so it aligns with the buyer's mental outlook."

Bishop, a top-performer in printing sales for 17 years, founded Thought Transformation to train and consult companies and sales professionals on how to sell more and reach their full potential. She talks to marketers regularly, and draws upon first-hand knowledge when presenting and training executives and salespeople nationwide.

Margaret Baumhauer, President of the GAA said, "We want our members to thrive and that requires new selling skills. One of the many membership benefits we offer is training. We encouraged all our members to take advantage of Linda Bishop's expertise and learn new ways to grow sales."

Q4 marks company's return to profitability and cash generation, delivering $0.05 of non-GAAP EPS

Foster City, Calif. - Electronics For Imaging, Inc., a world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, today announced its results for the fourth quarter of 2009. For the quarter ended December 31, 2009, the Company reported revenues of $114.0 million, compared to fourth quarter 2008 revenue of $135.3 million.

GAAP net loss was $(3.4) million or $(0.07) per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to a GAAP net loss of $(104.5) million or $(2.03) per diluted share for the same period in 2008.

GAAP net loss was $(2.2) million or $(0.04) per diluted share for the twelve months ended December 31, 2009, compared to a GAAP net loss of $(113.4) million or $(2.16) per diluted share for the same period in 2008.

Non-GAAP net income was $2.3 million or $0.05 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to non-GAAP net income of $6.7 million or $0.13 per diluted share for the same period in 2008.

Non-GAAP net loss was $(10.7) million or $(0.22) per diluted share for the twelve months ended December 31, 2009, compared to non-GAAP net income of $41.2 million or $0.74 per diluted share for the same period in 2008.

"Our results continue to show improvement as we delivered 13% sequential revenue growth driven by a strong rebound in our Fiery business posting 26% quarter over quarter growth. In addition, we delivered on our commitment to return to profitability and generate cash in the fourth quarter," said Guy Gecht, CEO of EFI. "As we look to 2010, we will be focused on profitable growth while continuing to provide the print industries' most innovative technology."

Xerox Corporation announced today fourth-quarter 2009 results that include GAAP earnings per share of 20 cents, adjusted earnings per share of 25 cents and $967 million in operating cash flow. The adjusted EPS excludes a previously disclosed charge for acquisition-related costs of 5 cents per share.

"We delivered a strong close to a difficult year, with solid operational results that reflect our disciplined approach to generating cash and reducing costs," said Ursula Burns, Xerox chief executive officer.

"During the fourth quarter, we saw signs of improvement in several areas including developing markets, and we remain quite confident in our strong global competitive position," she added. "However, we believe revenue will continue to be under pressure until there is a more sustainable economic recovery. To help offset this challenge, we remain focused on cost and expense management and sizing our business to better match current revenue levels."

The company reported fourth-quarter total revenue of $4.2 billion, down 3 percent from fourth-quarter 2008 including a 4 point benefit from currency. Equipment sale revenue declined 11 percent or 15 percent in constant currency. Post-sale and financing revenue was flat, or declined 4 percent in constant currency.

"We're encouraged by improving trends in our post-sale revenue and continued strong signings for Xerox's managed print services that help our clients reduce their document costs," said Burns. "The increasing demand for services supports the benefits of our acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services. We're on track to close the acquisition next month. Once completed, Xerox will be the world leader in business process and document management."

Gross margin was 39.9 percent in the fourth quarter, an increase of two points from the prior year. Selling, administrative and general expenses were up year over year by $23 million driven by currency, and SAG as a percent of revenue was 26.7 percent in the fourth quarter.

The company's full-year 2009 net income was $485 million, including after-tax acquisition-related costs of $49 million. Total revenue was $15.2 billion, down from $17.6 billion in 2008.

Xerox generated $2.2 billion of operating cash flow in 2009, exceeding its full-year expectations by $500 million. Total debt was reduced by $1.1 billion in 2009, excluding the $2 billion of ACS-related notes issued last month. The company ended the year with a cash balance of $3.8 billion.

During the first quarter of 2010, Xerox expects to take a pre-tax restructuring charge of approximately $250 million to continue implementing its cost-reduction activities on a global basis. Including ACS results, Xerox expects full-year 2010 GAAP earnings in the range of 36 to 46 cents per share. Adjusted EPS is expected to be 75 to 85 cents per share, which excludes restructuring, adjustments related to the ACS acquisition and other discrete items.

Agfa has successfully finalised the recent acquisitions, announced in November 2009.

The Agfa Graphics business group acquired most of the assets of Gandi Innovations Holdings LLC's North American operations and the shares of its principal foreign subsidiaries. Gandi Innovations is a global leader in large format inkjet systems.

The Agfa HealthCare business group acquired Insight Agents GmbH., a European developer and producer of contrast media.