Xyratex Ltd Announces Results for the Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2011

HAVANT, England, Sept. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Xyratex Ltd (Nasdaq: XRTX), a leading provider of enterprise class data storage subsystems and hard disk drive capital equipment, today announced results for the third fiscal quarter ended August 31, 2011. Revenues for the third quarter were $361.8 million, a decrease of 16% compared to revenues of $430.2 million for the same period last year.

For the third quarter, GAAP net income was $9.7 million, or $0.32 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net income of $37.2 million, or $1.19 per diluted share, in the same period last year. Non-GAAP net income was $12.7 million, or $0.42 per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net income of $37.6 million, or $1.20 per diluted share, in the same quarter a year ago (1).

Gross profit margin in the third quarter decreased to 16.7%, compared to 17.6% in the same period last year, reflecting significantly lower revenues and gross margins in the Storage Infrastructure (SI) business partially offset by increased gross margins in the Networked Storage Solutions (NSS) business.

Revenues from sales of our NSS products were $336.6 million as compared to $317.2 million in the same quarter a year ago, an increase of 6%. Gross profit margin in the NSS business was 17.2% as compared to 12.0% a year ago. The increase in gross margin was primarily due to a favorable customer and product mix. Revenues from sales of our SI products were $25.2 million as compared to $113 million in the same quarter a year ago, a decrease of 78%. Gross profit margin in the SI business was 9.6% as compared to 33.8% a year ago. The decrease in gross margin was primarily the result of the impact of fixed operating costs on lower revenues. Additionally, as a result of the bankruptcy filing by Solyndra, Xyratex has recorded a bad debt provision of approximately $1 million.

During the quarter the Company repurchased 2,064,480 of its common shares at a total cost of $18.6 million. During the first nine months of the fiscal year a total of 2,615,196 shares have been repurchased, representing 8.5% of issued shares outstanding as of February 28, 2011, at a total cost of $23.9 million. The shares were repurchased under the previously announced share repurchase plan. Also, as previously announced, the Company paid its first dividend in the quarter. The cash dividend was set at $0.05 a share and totaled approximately $1.5 million. The Company's cash balance amounted to $136.2 million at the end of the quarter, an increase of $9.3 million in the quarter and of $45.4 million in the first nine months of the fiscal year.

"Overall, I was pleased with our performance," said Steve Barber, CEO of Xyratex. "I was very pleased with the performance of our NSS business in the third quarter. The Enterprise External Storage market remains strong, and we are executing well overall to meet the needs of our customers. In addition, we continue to invest in other growth sectors that will broaden our market opportunities.  Our SI business performed within our expectations but, as we have mentioned throughout the year it is being negatively affected by a number of factors, including the delay in regulatory approval of the two pending disk drive industry acquisitions by Seagate and Western Digital. As a result, the disk drive capital equipment sector remains very challenged with the industry delaying incremental capital investment. Given this current market environment, we are now implementing significant reductions in fixed costs in the SI business while protecting our investments in key next generation products needed to improve our competitive position. We have a strong cash position which will allow us to invest in strategic areas as well as continue to buy back shares."

Business Outlook

The following statements are based on current expectations. These statements are forward-looking, and actual results may differ materially.

• Revenue in the fourth quarter of 2011 is projected to be in the range of $343 million to $383 million.
• Diluted earnings per share is anticipated to be between $0.19 and $0.37 on a GAAP basis in the fourth quarter of 2011. On a non-GAAP basis diluted earnings per share is anticipated to be between $0.27 and $0.45. Non-GAAP earnings per share excludes amortization of intangible assets, equity compensation expense, specified non-recurring items and related taxation expense.

Conference Call/Webcast Information

Xyratex quarterly results conference call will be broadcast live via the internet at http://www.xyratex.com/investors on Thursday, September 29, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time/4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. You can also access the conference call by dialing +1 (800) 299-7089 in the United States and +1 (617) 801-9714 outside of the United States, passcode 94462032. The press release will be posted to the company web site www.xyratex.com.

A replay will be available through October 6, 2011 following the live call by dialing +1 (888) 286-8010 in the United States and +1 (617) 801-6888 outside the United States, replay code 47147315.

(1) Non-GAAP net income (loss) and diluted earnings (loss) per share excludes (a) amortization of intangible assets, (b) equity compensation expense, (c) the related tax effects, and (d) the tax expense resulting from a reduction in the deferred tax asset caused by a fall in U.K. tax rates. Reconciliation of non-GAAP net income (loss) and diluted earnings (loss) per share to GAAP net income (loss) and GAAP diluted earnings (loss) per share is included in a table immediately following the condensed consolidated statements of cash flows below.

The intention in providing these non-GAAP measures is to provide supplemental information regarding the Company's operational performance while recognizing that they have material limitations and that they should only be referred to, with reference to, and not considered to be a substitute for, or superior to, the corresponding GAAP measure. The financial results calculated in accordance with GAAP and reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the comparable GAAP measures should be carefully evaluated. The non-GAAP financial measures used by us may be calculated differently from, and therefore may not be comparable to, similarly titled measures used by other companies.

The Company believes that the provision of these non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors and investment analysts because it enables comparison to the Company's historical operating results, those of competitors and other industry participants and also provides transparency to the measures used by management in operational and financial decision making. In relation to the specific items excluded: (a) intangible assets represent costs incurred by the acquired business prior to acquisition, are not cash costs and will not be replaced when the assets are fully amortized and therefore the exclusion of these costs provides management and investors with better visibility of the costs required to generate revenue over time; (b) equity compensation expense is non-cash in nature and is outside the control of management during the period in which the expense is incurred;  (c) the exclusion of the related tax effects of excluding items (a) and (b) is necessary to show the effect on net income of the change in tax expense that would have been recorded if these items had not been incurred; (d) the impact of the reduction in tax rates is non-cash and not comparable across periods or with other companies due to the existence of a significant U.K. related deferred tax asset which is expected to reduce over time.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance, including our projected revenue and fully diluted earnings per share data (on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis) for the fourth quarter. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include our inability to compete successfully in the competitive and rapidly changing marketplace in which we operate, failure to retain key employees, cancellation or delay of projects and adverse general economic conditions in the United States and internationally. These risks and other factors include those listed under "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our Annual Report on Form 20-F as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (File No. 000-50799). In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," "continue," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.

About Xyratex

Xyratex is a leading provider of enterprise class data storage subsystems and hard disk drive capital equipment. The Networked Storage Solutions division designs and manufactures a range of advanced, scalable data storage solutions for the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) community. As the largest capital equipment supplier to the industry, the Storage Infrastructure division enables disk drive manufacturers and their component suppliers to meet today's technology and productivity requirements. Xyratex has over 25 years of experience in research and development relating to disk drives, storage systems and manufacturing process technology.

Founded in 1994 in an MBO from IBM, and with headquarters in the UK, Xyratex has an established global base with R&D and operational facilities in Europe, the United States and South East Asia.

For more information, visit www.xyratex.com.

SOURCE Xyratex Ltd