Lake Mary, Fla., Feb. 28, 2012 -- FARO Technologies, Inc., (Nasdaq: FARO) the world leader in 3D measurement and imaging solutions, announced today that Dr. Bernd Becker has been named to the newly created position of Chief Technology Strategist and Evangelist, reporting directly to Jay Freeland, President and CEO.
In his role, Dr. Becker will be responsible for driving the Company's overall 3D technology strategic vision, focusing on identifying new development paths for the Company's existing products as well as new products and applications that could provide a new generation of growth in the continually expanding 3D market. It is also expected that Dr. Becker will play a key role in the identification and evaluation of M&A opportunities.
"FARO is preparing for a new phase of disruptive growth and Bernd will be instrumental in helping drive that. He will collaborate closely with me as well as our product management and engineering leaders to drive the strategy forward aggressively," stated Mr. Freeland.
Dr. Becker came to FARO as one of the co-founders of iQvolution, a cutting edge Laser Scanner company, and together with his brother, Dr. Reinhard Becker, FARO's current engineering leader for the FARO Laser Scanner and co-founder of iQvolution, created one of the most disruptive products the 3D measurement space has ever seen.
Bernd holds a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Stuttgart, a Master's Degree in Operations Research from Stanford University, and a PhD from the University of Stuttgart. In addition to spending 14 years as a scientific engineer at the esteemed Fraunhofer Institute, Bernd, along with his brother Reinhard, was also a co-founder of Aesop, a company which they sold to Tecnomatix before starting iQvolution in 2001.
FARO Reports Record Results for Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2011
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.
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.
Author: FARO
Source: http://www.lidarnews.com/content/view/8824/