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Interim Management Statement
BATM Advanced Communications Limited ("BATM" or the "Company") (LSE: BVC),
a leading designer and producer of Carrier Ethernet and Metropolitan Telecom
Systems, is today issuing its Interim Management Statement for the period from 1
January 2010 to 30 April 2010.
Current trading update
Total revenues in the first four months of 2010 were $ 36.0 million, compared
with $38.9 million in the equivalent period in 2009. The decrease is due to a
significant decline of revenues during the period from a major OEM channel in
the Telecom division, as compared to those in the equivalent period in 2009.
This has been somewhat offset by growth in other areas.
During these four months the sales mix was 63% from the Telecoms division and
37% from the Medical division. During April 2010, total revenues for the month
were equal to those in April 2009, despite continuing weakness in the
aforementioned OEM customer and substantial weakness in European economies.
The gross margin has decreased by 7% during the first four months of 2010 when
compared to the same period in 2009, due to the change in the sales mix, caused
by the reduced revenues from the major OEM customer. The gross margin in the
Medical division has increased above the margin in 2009, a trend which we expect
to continue.
Financial position
The Company's balance sheet remains very strong and at the end of April the
effective cash balance stood at $64.5 million, a decrease of $2.3 million
compared to the position at 31 December 2009, largely due to erosion of Euro
denominated balances.
Board Developments
As reported in the Annual Report for 2009 both Ms Ariella Zochovitsky and Mr
Koti Gavish will complete the second of their three year terms, the maximum term
prescribed by Israeli law, in September 2010. In addition Dr. Dan Kaznelson has
announced his decision to step down immediately prior to the forthcoming Annual
General Meeting.
At the AGM the Board will be proposing the appointment of three new
non-executives:
- Roger Lacey, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Planning, 3M with 11 years
experience in the 3M Telecoms division;
- Professor Gideon Chitayat, currently Chairman of Delta Galil Industries and
Honigman. Professor Chitayat has served as a director for Teva Pharmaceutical
Industries and Bank Hapoalim among others; and
- Amos Shani, serial entrepreneur with experience in the Telecoms sector,
former Division Engineering Manager for Intel, Israel.
Full resumes of the proposed new appointees will be made available ahead of the
Annual General Meeting. The Board believes that these strong candidates will
make an important contribution to the continued success of BATM.
Outlook
Despite the disappointing start to the year, due almost
exclusively to the low orders from our major OEM customer, from April onwards we
have begun to see positive signs in our business. High customer activity in the
US reported earlier in the year has started to convert into orders and we have
signed two licensing agreements with new customers, including an agreement
reported in April 2010 with a leading semi-conductor manufacturer, to license
some of our mobile backhaul technology. Revenues from the licensing will begin
in mid 2011 and are initially expected to be in the region of several US$
million. Management also sees positive prospects with important new customers.
Due to the substantial impact of the OEM customer decline coupled with the
weakness of the Euro, we currently expect to be broadly break-even for the first
six months. For the year as a whole, management are encouraged by the recent
positive signs in the business, and remain cautiously optimistic that BATM will
meet its revenue targets for the full year. The sales mix to date is expected to
continue and management expects that the profitability in the second half of the
year will be similar to that of the second half of 2009.