Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (GILT) Q1 2011 Earnings Report, Transcript and Summary

Thank you for standing by, welcome to the Gilat first quarter 2011 results conference call. (Operator Instructions), I would now like to turn over the call to Mary Beth Csaby from KCSA Strategic Communications to read the Safe Harbor, Mary Beth please go ahead. Mary Beth Csaby – KCSA Strategic Communications: Thank you, good morning and good afternoon everyone. Thank you for joining us today for Gilat’s first quarter 2011 results conference call. A recording of this call be available beginning at approximately noon eastern time today, May 17th, until May 19th, 2011 at noon. Our earnings press release and website provide details on accessing the archived call. To the read the forward-looking statements and our earnings releases which state that statements made on this earnings call which are not historical facts may be deemed forward-looking statements within the meaning of the private securities litigation reform act of 1995. All forward-looking statements including statements future financial operating results involve risks, uncertainties, and contingencies many of which are beyond the control of Gilat and which may cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results. Gilat is under no obligation to update or alter our forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, due to events, or otherwise. We expressly disclaim any obligation to do so; whereas detailed information about risk factors can be found in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That said, on the call today, is Amiram Levinberg, Gilat’s Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer and Ari Krashin, Chief Financial Officer. Amiram, please go ahead.

Thank you, Mary Beth, good day everyone, I would like to begin by commenting on our activity during the first quarter. I will then turn the call over to Ari who will walk you through the quarter’s financial results. Following our prepared remarks we will open the call for questions. The first quarter was highlighted by strong financial performance in our core business and a few key contracts. In addition, we recently announced a major contractor’s for Australia’s MBN project. I will go into further details about this project later in my comments. I will also discuss Spacenet’s small but strategic acquisition of CICAT Networks. This quarter’s revenue increased to $80 million compared to $57.1 million in the first quarter of 2010. Gross margins in Q1 reached 36% compared to 34% in the comparable quarter in 2010 and EBITDA margins were approximated 10% growth about 6% in the first quarter over 2010. On a non-GAAP basis our operating income for the quarter was $3.9 million up from $0.4 million of non-GAAP operating income in the comparable quarter of 2010. I will provide you with more detail on our quarter results later in the call. Our North American business was strong in the first quarter led by Spacenet’s commercial activity. We previously announced several wins in the gaming industry, such that we acquired in the first quarter of the year. Spacenet also received orders in the energy sector and from enterprise and government customers. I want to highlight one important deal that we signed this quarter to provide service for FEMA, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of the integrated and public alert warning system. The contract calls for network composed of two fully redundant NetEdge Gateway’s at FEMA data centers that are connected to a remote station in…

Thanks, Amiram, I would like to remind everyone that our financial results are presented both in GAAP and non-GAAP basis. The GAAP financial results include the effect of SFAS 123R, the inclusion of stock-based compensation expenses in the P-n-L. Expenses related to our M&A activities during our 2010 and 2011 and the position of tangible and intangible assets resulting from the purchase by some locations and other one-time income. The reconciliation page in our press release highlights this data and our non-GAAP information is presented excluding these items. Now moving to our financial highlights for the first quarter 2011, our revenues for the first quarter of 2011 moved by 40% to $80 million from $57.1 million in the comparable quarter of 2010. Also quarterly revenues were approximately $50 million is attributable to Wave Stream being consolidated in full for the first time. The rest of the increase in our business of about 14% is mostly from the rollout of size in connection with the recent win of business in the gaming sector. Our gross margin this quarter was approximately 36% compared to approximately 34% of the first quarter of 2010. On a non-GAAP basis our gross margin reached 39% compared to 35% last year. As we mention from time to time, our gross margin is affected quarter to quarter by the regions in which we operate and the type of deal we consummate. The improvement in our gross margins this quarter was attributed mainly to the higher portion of equipment sales which typically carries higher margins. Gross R&D expenses were $8.9 million this quarter compared to $4.7 million in the same quarter of 2010. The increasing R&D expenses is primarily an outcome of the consolidation of RaySat Antenna Systems and Wave Stream. The increase is also in line with our…

Thank you, Ari. To summarize our call we saw in Q1 an increase in revenue and strong gross and EBITDA margins. The quarter was highlighted by growth in our business in terms of revenue as well as recent new customer wins and strategic buildup of our business. Our strategy to increase R&D and investing in our future while we improve our profitability is going as planned. This includes our long-term goals in defense and re-targeting markets and we are broadening our scope in these markets with new products. We continue to work hard to meet our management objectives, set at the beginning of the year, for revenues of over $330 million and an EBITDA margin of 10%. That concludes our review. We would now like to open the floor for questions. Operator, please?

Thank you, (operator instructions); the first question is from James Breen of William Blair. James Breen – William Blair: Thank you very much, just a couple questions, one, with respect to the revenue makeup during the quarter, can you talk about the splits of government versus nongovernment revenue? And then also, with respect to going forward and where you see growth coming from, you talked a little bit about the government segment, but I think within the enterprise also, are there opportunities in both areas to continue the growth?

Hi, James, this is Ari; I mean we expected your first question. Government versus non-government, basically the switch would be mostly DOD, defense dollars versus enterprise, or the commercial business that we have. Now as I mentioned earlier, I mean the main numbers represent those revenues of Wave Stream that we estimate were approximately $50 million of the revenue side. So actually if we take them out, means that the call always – will Gilat’s business contributed something like $65 million this quarter which is EBITDA by a significant increase in the revenue. Now going forward with respect to future opportunities and then identify the market or commercial market obviously we’re not, with the big project in Australia, NBN. We do see some new facilities in our enterprise market in North America, continuing well-off with the lottery segment. Also, international markets, some new opportunities are developing so obviously going throughout the year we do anticipate that we will see growth both in the DOD market, in the government market as you call and also, our core business, commercial business. James Breen – William Blair: Great and do you think – has the pricing been fairly stable in terms of some of the new contracts your signing up relative to the old ones?

Yes, obviously you can – it’s also reflected in the gross margins, so we do feel quite comfortable with those gross margins even going forward and the pricing is quite stable. James Breen – William Blair: And then I just, lastly, was there meaningful impact from the FX during the quarter?

We mentioned that in our earlier call, it’s basically, obviously most of revenues are numerated in U.S. Dollars, so with respective revenues we don’t really see any fluctuations do to exchange rates. But the expense side, as being an Israeli company, some of our expenses are obviously in Israeli shekels. So what we try to do is hedge the shekel versus the dollar. So currently we are hedged to the end of Q2 and exchange rates of 3.64 something like that. And going forward obviously we tried to – for the sale, to protect the budget and then once we see a good opportunity we will probably go ahead and hedge further along the way so we won’t be that – recipes for fluctuation in the exchange rate. James Breen – William Blair: Great, thank you very much.

Thank you.

(Operator instructions), there are no further questions at this time. Before I ask Mr. Levinberg to go ahead with his closing statement I would like to remind participants a replay of this call is scheduled to begin two hours after the conference in the U.S. please call 1-888-782-4291, in Israeli please call 03-925-5928, internationally please call 9723-925-5928. Additionally a replay of this call will also be available on the company’s website, www.gilat.com. Mr. Levinberg would you like to make a completing statement?

I would just like to say thank you all for joining us for this quarter’s call, good-day and good-bye.

Thank you. This concludes Gilat’s first quarter 2011 results conference call. Thank you for your participation you may go ahead and disconnect.