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Avnet looking to cut costs AGAIN

Fiscal Q1 profits slide by nearly 30 per cent

Avnet CEO Rick Hamada has described fiscal Q1 numbers as a "disappointing setback" with profits falling steeply and further cost cutting required.

The distie titan already revealed plans to lop a load of costs to help out the bottom line when it unveiled preliminary Q1 figures early this month, with sales down nine per cent to $5.85bn.

But it lifted the covers off earnings today and they do not make for pretty reading - operating income dropped by 55.2 per cent to $100m and net profits fell 27.9 per cent to $100.3m.

"Our Q1 results represent a disappointing setback in our short term performance expectations," said Hamada.

"Key segments of our served markets slowed during the quarter beyond our initial expectations, leading to a dramatic impact on our bottom line results as our revenues in the higher-margin western regions declined double digit percentages year over year," he added.

Sales in the components unit Electronics Marketing fell 4.3 per cent to $2.65bn, with EMEA worst hit, sliding 14.7 per cent or 3.8 per cent excluding the impact of for-ex translations.

In the Technology Solutions arm, sales were down 15.1 per cent to $2.2bn with the Americas falling 16.1 per cent and EMEA declining 18.4 per cent or 11 per cent in constant currency.

Hamada said some customers "Opted to delay IT projects that were specifically targeted for closure…the loss of gross profit dollars due to the decline in sales had a significant impact".

He added that while the distie has concluded expense reductions that will lift the December quarter it needs to find more savings.

"We are in the process of identifying additional expense actions that will drive the year-over-year improvements in operating income margin beyond the December quarter," said the CEO. ®

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