Despite the unusually severe downturn in the industrial economy, we delivered strong profitability, which allowed us to continue our aggressive investment in R&D and field sales, said James Truchard, NI President and CEO. We are excited about our current R&D initiatives to expand our opportunities into new application areas next year and beyond.
Geographically, the Q2 2001 breakdown of revenue growth in U.S. dollars as compared to Q2 2000 was as follows: Americas, down 6 percent; Europe flat; and Asia, up 11 percent. In local currency terms, revenue was up 11 percent in Europe, up 15 percent in Asia, and up 2 percent worldwide. On the expense side, NI has reduced its expense growth rate from 24 percent last year, to 14 percent in Q1 2001, and to 8 percent in Q2 2001.
Compared to the severe declines seen by many of the traditional players in our industry, we had a solid quarter, said Alex Davern, CFO of NI. We gained market share with the continued growth of our measurement products and managed our expenses effectively, achieving net margins of 10 percent of revenue.
In response to the broad economic slowdown, NI revised its budget in May for the remainder of 2001. The revised budget plans for year-over-year revenue to be down 2 percent in Q3 and flat in Q4. Year-over-year expense growth is budgeted at approximately 6 percent in Q3 and flat in Q4. The revised budget anticipates that the company’s operating margin will be in the low double digits in Q3, returning toward the company’s long-term corporate model of 18 percent by Q4. This budget represents the company’s best point estimate within a likely range. Should the global economy deteriorate further, revenue and operating margins may fall below this level. Should it begin to recover, they may exceed this level.
SOURCE: COMPANY PRESS RELEASE
