A Look at the Quarterly Financial Numbers from GIS Companies

The Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions (IMGS) division reported last week that their revenues ($54.5 Million) grew by $6 Million over the previous quarter with margins and operating income ($2.8 Million) both posting increases.For the year, revenue is up 5% over the previous year and much of the increase is being attributed to "progress made towards completing new long-term projects that were booked earlier this year." Also, sales by the Z/I division in addition to improved sales and the Utilities and Communications group is seeing progress.Compared to Q3 2002, revenue is up 9%. This is obviously good news for stockholders.In Q1 of this year For Q1 2003, IMGS reported $46.8 million in revenues with $0.2 million in operating income.However, this is not unexpected as this is a typical trend for Intergraph sales - Each successive quarter in the fiscal year generally shows an increase over the previous quarter, with Q4 showing the strongest results as sales close prior to year end.The fact that the Utilities and Communications group was mentioned was a positive sign as this group has been the laggard in the division given the weakness in the telecommunications sector.

As a company, most other Intergraph business units showed flat or only slight increases in revenues, amplifying the results of the IMGS performance. As of September 30th, Intergraph was showing a $489 Million cash balance, mostly due to settlement of intellectual property law suits from Intel and others. Direction's Take: Intergraph is in a steady state; getting their finances poised for 2004 investment.In an exclusive interview with Directions, Halsey Wise, CEO, commented, "I think we are charged with looking at things were there is higher growth markets; looking at markets where we have strength; looking at areas where we are not successful or not spending a lot of time and energy or resources, human or dollar-wise in those markets.In every business, including our IMGS business, we'll continue to triage opportunities and focus on areas we think will return the most." Directions will publish the entire interview later this month.Intergraph's stock surged 10% on the news of their performance, bolstered also by stock repurchases during the quarter.

(source: Intergraph Corporation)

""This is the third consecutive quarter of favorable year-over-year comparisons and improving bottom line results, and brings to a close a year during which we strengthened our foundation for growth," said Mark Cattini, president and CEO."In fiscal 2004, we plan to capitalize on the opportunities we identified this year.Our focus will be on further penetrating target verticals..."

However, on the conference call with financial analysts on October 30th, Cattini was only cautiously optimistic for 2004, stressing that the current IT sector performance provided little guidance for MapInfo's outlook.Yet, he anticipates growth to continue in the 15% range during the next fiscal year.Cattini also indicated that their forecasts for the Location-based Services (LBS) business was overly optimistic but that a resurgence in Europe in Asia has been seen recently.

Direction's Take: MapInfo's still indicated that 40% of their revenue is from partners.This is obviously still a significant element of their revenue mix.Given the continued weakness in the IT sector, it appears that partner success is critical.Contracts of more than $100,000 also increased in the quarter from non-telecommuniations customers indicating that other industry sectors are willing to loosen some of IT purse strings, but some of this might be due to deferred spending.Q1 is typically weak for MapInfo but their guidance is suggesting that revenue will be in the $27-$28 Million range.Some of their newly introduced industry sector solutions, such as in insurance, is an indication to get further into the enterprise solution business. MapInfo's stock continues to show weakness and is off its highs for the year.

(source: MapInfo Corporation)

Trimble exceeded all revenue estimates by recording record revenues of $139 Million during the quarter.The companies product sector dedicated to GIS increased 52% over the previous year's sequential quarter.According to their press release, "Strong demand for GeoExplorer® CE series GPS handhelds fueled GIS sales, with particular strength coming from utilities and the federal government ahead of its fiscal year-end.Agriculture product sales also grew significantly during the quarter, with high-end guidance products continuing to gain momentum on new tractor platforms, and in new geographies and crop types."

"During the third quarter we continued to validate our position as a market leader in our core businesses, while moving forward on emerging opportunities that will provide for additional growth over the next several years," said Steven W.Berglund, president and CEO of Trimble.

Direction's Take: Their financial statement indicated strong "organic" growth in Trimble's markets.This is a buzz word that new business is walking in the door without much marketing effort.Trimble's stock surged on the news, rebounding to levels not seen since this past August.

(source: Trimble Navigation Ltd.)