FARO Reports Record Results for Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2011

LAKE MARY, Fla., Feb. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: FARO) today announced record results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2011.  Sales in the fourth quarter of 2011 increased 31.7% to $77.1 million, from $58.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.  The Company reported net income increased by 95.8% to $9.5 million, or $0.56 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2011, from $4.8 million, or $0.29 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2010.

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Fiscal 2011 sales were $254.2 million, an increase of 32.5% compared to fiscal 2010 sales of $191.8 million.  Net income for fiscal 2011 was $23.4 million compared to $11.1 million in fiscal 2010.

New order bookings for fiscal 2011 were $255.7 million, an increase of 29.2% from $197.9 million in fiscal 2010.  New order bookings for the fourth quarter of 2011 were $77.1 million, an increase of $9.7 million, or 14.4%, compared to $67.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.  A sluggish European economy resulted in lower than expected orders in the fourth quarter.  However, orders in the other two regions met the Company's internal targets.  

"We had another strong quarter, growing sales by almost 32% and EPS by 93%," stated Jay Freeland, FARO's President and CEO.  "The Focus Laser Scanner continues to do well and the new FARO Edge Arm has been well-received by our customers.  We also generated additional operating margin leverage through the combination of increased sales and tight cost controls."

Gross margin for the fourth quarter of 2011 was 56.5%, compared to 59.0% in the fourth quarter of 2010 and in line with the 56.1% gross margins of Q2 and Q3 2011,  resulting from proportionately higher laser scanner sales, which currently have a lower gross margin relative to the Company's historical product mix.

The Company's operating margin for the fourth quarter increased to 16.7%, compared with 10.6% in the fourth quarter of 2010.  The increase was driven by a combination of continued cost containment and substantial operating leverage on the Company's cost structure.

"The Company is performing extremely well.  Our new products are creating strong demand, and we have more on the way in 2012.  We're entering an exciting new era for the Company.  We plan to introduce even more disruptive products as we go forward, and we will spend aggressively on R&D to drive our technology lead. FARO's market opportunity remains substantial and as a result, we believe that sales growth of 20 – 25% per year is an achievable target for the Company," Freeland concluded.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to risks and uncertainties, such as statements about FARO's plans and strategies, product releases, demand for its products, spending on R&D, and its future operating results and financial condition. Statements that are not historical facts or that describe the Company's plans, objectives, projections, expectations, assumptions, strategies, or goals are forward-looking statements. In addition, words such as "intend," "believe," "will," "expect" and similar expressions or discussions of our plans or other intentions identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to various known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results, performances, or achievements to differ materially from future results, performances, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Consequently, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:

• development by others of new or improved products, processes or technologies that make the Company's products obsolete or less competitive;
• delays in the introduction of new products by the Company;
• production delays caused by shortages of raw materials incorporated in the Company's products;
• the cyclical nature of the industries of the Company's customers and material adverse changes in customers' access to liquidity and capital;
• declines or other adverse changes, or lack of improvement, in industries that the Company serves or the domestic and international economies in the regions of the world where the Company operates and other general economic, business, and financing conditions;
• fluctuations in the Company's annual and quarterly operating results and the inability to achieve its financial operating targets;
• risks associated with expanding international operations, such as fluctuations in currency exchange rates, difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations, political and economic instability, compliance with import and export regulations, and the burdens and potential exposure of complying with a wide variety of U.S. and foreign laws and labor practices;
• other risks detailed in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010.

Forward-looking statements in this release represent the Company's judgment as of the date of this release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

About FARO
With over 26,000 installations and 13,000 customers globally, FARO Technologies, Inc. designs, develops, and markets portable, computerized measurement and imaging devices and software used to create digital models -- or to perform evaluations against an existing model -- for anything requiring highly detailed 3-D measurements, including part and assembly inspection, factory planning and asset documentation, as well as specialized applications ranging from surveying, recreating accident sites and crime scenes to digitally preserving historical sites.

FARO's technology increases productivity by dramatically reducing the amount of on-site measuring time, and the various industry-specific software packages enable users to process and present their results quickly and more effectively.

Principal products include the world's best-selling portable measurement arm -- the FaroArm; the world's best-selling laser tracker -- the FARO Laser Tracker X and Xi; the FARO Laser ScanArm; FARO Focus 3D Laser Scanner; the FARO Gage, Gage-PLUS and PowerGAGE; and the CAM2 Q family of advanced CAD-based measurement and reporting software. FARO Technologies is ISO-9001 certified and ISO-17025 laboratory registered.

SOURCE FARO Technologies, Inc.