Reuters: Global Markets: Harman gets $2 billion order; shares rise

Reuters: Global Markets Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Harman gets $2 billion order; shares rise Apr 30th 2012, 15:24 By Sruthi Ramakrishnan Mon Apr 30, 2012 11:24am EDT (Reuters) - Harman International Industries Inc (HAR.N) said it won a $2 billion contract from its largest customer, in the audio systems maker's biggest deal to date. The company, which owns brands such as Harman Kardon, JBL, AKG and Infinity, did not disclose the name of the customer, but regulatory filings show that BMW AG (BMWG.DE) was its largest customer last year, accounting for 21 percent of its sales. "This deal will come into production in late 2014. We will be serving the customer worldwide from 2015 to 2017," Chief Executive Dinesh Paliwal told Reuters. Shares of the company were trading up 10 percent at $52.11 on Monday on the New York Stock Exchange. Earlier this month, the company said it signed more than $500 million worth of agreements to provide in-car entertainment systems to three carmakers- China's Geely Motors and BAIC Motors and India's Tata Motors Ltd (TAMO.NS). "It was a blowout quarter for orders," Paliwal said. The company, which also provides audio products for cars made by Audi, Daimler (DAIGn.DE), Toyota (7203.T) and Ferrari, reaffirmed its sales outlook for the year, after posting quarterly results above analyst estimates for the fourth time in a row. In October, the company forecast full year 2012 sales of $4.2-$4.4 billion. "Big markets, particularly China, India, Russia, were very strong for us for this quarter," Paliwal said. Revenue from emerging nations has grown to about 17-18 percent, he said. "Our goal is, by 2015, to have 25 percent of our company's sales to come from BRIC markets." Third-quarter net income rose to $173 million, or $2.38 per share, from $37 million, or 51 cents per share, a year ago. Sales rose 16 percent to $1.10 billion from a year ago. Excluding items, the company earned 74 cents per share. Analysts, on average, were looking for third-quarter earnings of 67 cents per share on revenue of $1.03 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Harman, co-founded by stereo magnate Sidney Harman, competes with Bose, Panasonic Corp (6752.T), Sony Corp (6758.T) and Denso Corp (6902.T). (Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon and Sreejiraj Eluvangal) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions