AeroVironment, Inc. (AV) reported financial results for its fiscal first quarter ended July 28, 2007. Results for the period showed significant growth in revenue and income from operations compared to the same period in the prior year.
"Our team did an outstanding job again this quarter of delivering system solutions that provide our customers with unique capabilities and outstanding value," said Tim Conver, Chairman, CEO and President of AV. "We experienced continued, strong sales of our small UAS, particularly Raven, which has now been adopted by the U.S. Army, Special Operations Command, Marine Corps and Air Force. The U.S. Air Force also took delivery of its initial BATMAV micro unmanned aircraft systems from us, which include the WASP III air vehicle. Our contract logistics support for these systems also increased in the quarter. Combined with solid performance from our PosiCharge and Energy Technology segments, these results reflect effective execution across the business, and indicate a growing demand for our solutions."
Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2008 was $49.2 million, an increase of 56% over first quarter fiscal 2007 revenue of $31.6 million. The increase in revenue was a result of increased sales in AV’s UAS segment of $16.9 million or 68%, its PosiCharge segment of $0.4 million or 8%, and in its Energy Technology Center segment of $0.3 million or 21%.
Gross margin for the quarter was $16.8 million, or 34% of revenue, compared to $12.0 million, or 38% of revenue, in the same quarter last year. The lower margin largely reflects lower fixed price revenue relative to cost reimbursable revenue compared to the same period in the prior year.
Income from operations for the first quarter of fiscal 2008 was $4.8 million, an increase of $2.8 million, or 139%, over first quarter fiscal 2007 income from operations of $2.0 million. The growth in income from operations was caused by increased gross margin of $4.8 million partially offset by higher selling, general and administrative expense of $1.6 million and higher research and development expense of $0.5 million.
Net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2008 was $3.8 million, an increase of $2.4 million, or 182%, over first quarter fiscal 2007 net income of $1.4 million. Earnings per share for the first quarter of fiscal 2008 was $0.18 per diluted share, an increase of $0.09 per diluted share over first quarter of fiscal 2007 earnings per share of $0.09 per diluted share.
