Harman announces rising net sales in fourth quarter

Harman International Industries announced a 17 percent increase in net sales for the fourth quarter, compared with figures from the same time period last year.
Net sales reached $1.1 billion, topping the $911 million reached in 2007’s fourth quarter. Overall for the fiscal year (FY), Harman has  seen a 16 percent net sales increase over FY 2007.

“We experienced another year of strong revenue growth in fiscal 2008, but our focus continues to be on execution and operational excellence to improve the bottom line,” says Dinesh Paliwal, chairman and chief executive officer. “We have strengthened our executive management team and we’ve taken aggressive actions to improve our cost base and global competitiveness. This includes changes to our manufacturing footprint, procurement, technology portfolio, and talent management. We are not satisfied with our earnings performance, but we are confident the actions we are taking will position Harman International to achieve strong results long-term.”

Harman designs, manufacturers and markets a range of audio and infotainment products for the automotive consumer and professional markets. The automotive division returned a 19 percent net sales increase for FY 2008 — mainly to key automotive customers including Audi, BMW, Chrysler and Hyundai — compared with last year.

While the automotive market was primarily responsible for increased net sales, it also drove Harman’s gross profit margin down 27 percent from FY 2007 with the launch of several new platforms in their third quarter.

"Fiscal 2009 will be another challenging year as we continue to execute a record number of new launches and restructure our operations to ensure our global leadership as the premium provider of infotainment and audio systems,” says Paliwal. “We remain committed to complementing our top-line growth with focused improved earnings.”

For more information, visit Harman International online.