Samsung - Samsung's Fuel-Cell Gambit : MTI MicroFuel Cells

Samsung's Fuel-Cell Gambit

Samsung may soon be tapping a new power source for its cell phones. The South Korean handset maker on May 18 is announcing plans for building prototype mobile phones powered by fuel cells. It's one of the biggest publicly disclosed commitments to the technology by a major manufacturer in years.
Samsung, the world's No. 3 maker of wireless phones, behind Finland's Nokia (NYSE:NOK - News) and U.S.-based Motorola (NYSE:MOT - News), says it has signed an exclusive deal to use technology from MTI MicroFuel Cells of Albany, N.Y., a unit of Mechanical Technology (NasdaqNM:MKTY - News). The joint development deal will last about 18 months, and neither company will work with any other to develop fuel cells for use in wireless phones. Samsung is committing $1 million to the effort.
That may be small potatoes in terms of Samsung's research and development budget, but it marks a big step forward for a fledging fuel-cell industry that aims to supplant the batteries typically used in notebook PCs, wireless phones, PDAs, and digital cameras.

Agfa - Bedrijfswinst Agfa-Gevaert hoger dan verwacht

Bedrijfswinst Agfa-Gevaert hoger dan verwacht
Beeldvormingsgroep Agfa-Gevaert boekte in het eerste kwartaal van 2006 een bedrijfswinst voor herstructureringskosten van 54 miljoen euro, dat is 31,7 procent meer dan een jaar eerder en boven de gemiddelde analistenverwachting van 50,4 miljoen euro. Na de bekendmaking van de kwartaalresultaten is het aandeel omstreeks 11u met 2,70 procent tot 17,08 euro gestegen.
(tijd-nieuwslijn) -De winstmarge steeg tot 6,7 procent ondanks stijgende grondstofkosten. Dat is te danken aan de kleinste afdeling Specialty Products. Graphics scoorde in lijn met de verwachtingen, maar Healthcare ontgoochelde. Agfa waarschuwt dat de grondstofkosten in de komende kwartalen aanzienlijk op de resultaten zullen wegen. Het bedrijf gaat daarom verdere prijsverhogingen doorvoeren en bijkomend snoeien in de bedrijfskosten van de traditionele activiteien.
De omzet steeg zoals verwacht met 8 procent tot 810 miljoen euro dankzij een verbeterd economisch klimaat, een sterke volumegroei en positieve wisselkoerseffecten.
In Agfa Graphics, de grafische afdeling van de groep, compenseerde de groei van digitale drukplaten de omzetdaling van de analoge producten. Ook de omzet van de inkjetactiviteiten wint aan belang. De omzet van Graphics steeg met 6 procent tot 424 miljoen euro, terwijl de bedrijfswinst met 21 procent toenam tot 20,1 miljoen euro. Dat levert een marge op van 4,7 procent, in lijn met de verwachtingen. De doorgevoerde prijsverhogingen zullen pas vanaf het tweede kwartaal een duidelijk effect hebben.
HealthCare, de medische divisie, haalde een bedrijfswinst van 25 miljoen euro en een marge van 7,7 procent. Door selectieve prijsverhogingen slaagde de groep erin de marge op peil te houden. De omzet steeg met 6,2 procent tot 324 miljoen euro dankzij de consolidatie van Heartlab, positieve wisselkoerseffecten en de sterke prestatie van de IT-actviteiten. Die business groeide met 29 procent, ruimschoots voldoende om de terugval van de Amerikaanse film- en printmarkt te compenseren.
De omzet uit Specialty Products steeg met 10,7 procent tot 62 miljoen euro en de ebit bedroeg 12,4 miljoen euro goed voor een marge van 20 procent. Vooral de sterke vraag naar cinefilm en film voor luchtfotografie deden het goed.
Agfa verwacht dat de gunstige omzetevolutie zich zal doorzetten, maar waarschuwt dat de dramatische stijging van de grondstofkosten aanzienlijk zal doorwegen in de resultaten van de komende kwartalen. Agfa zegt zijn prijzen te blijven aanpassen op basis van de grondstofprijsevoluties. Agfa gaat bovendien bijkomende maatregelen namen om de bedrijfskosten, vooral in de traditionele business, aanzienlijk te verminderen.

4Kids - 4Kids Entertainment Reports First Quarter Results

4Kids Entertainment Reports First Quarter Results

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 10, 2006--4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: KDE - News), a global provider of children's entertainment and merchandise licensing, today announced financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2006.
Net revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2006 were $19.8 million compared to $20.3 million in the same period last year. Net income for the first quarter of 2006 was $1.5 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, compared to net income of $2.0 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, in the same period last year. The diluted weighted average common shares outstanding for the three months ended March 31, 2006 were 13,368,231 shares compared with 13,833,711 shares for the same period last year.
Alfred R. Kahn, 4Kids Entertainment's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Our revenue for the first quarter of 2006 was slightly below the comparable period in 2005. Our gains in licensing revenue from Cabbage Patch Kids domestically and Winx Club(TM) internationally partially offset, declines in licensing revenues from the Yu-Gi-Oh!® and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles® properties. Although total costs and expenses in the first quarter of 2006 increased from the same period last year, these increases were substantially offset by additional interest income from invested cash and a lower effective tax rate."
"The first quarter of 2006 also included several exciting developments for the Company. We announced the upcoming launch of Viva Pinata, the new television series that we are developing with Microsoft, and that will air this fall on 4Kids TV," said Kahn. "We formed a new subsidiary, 4Sight Licensing Solutions, Inc., which will specialize in the marketing and licensing of brands geared primarily to adults, teens and 'tweens'. 4Sight recently entered into an exclusive agreement with Microsoft to represent Xbox, including Xbox 360, in all countries where the Xbox is sold. We also concluded the negotiation of an extension of our agreement with Fox Broadcasting Corp. for the 2006 - 2007 and 2007 - 2008 broadcast seasons. Finally, we have started to implement a cost-cutting program across the Company and its subsidiaries which we expect will result in significant reductions in expenses in the second half of 2006 and in 2007."
"We are also continuing to execute our strategic shift towards greater ownership of new properties as exemplified by Chaotic, the new television series and interactive card game that we expect to debut in the fall. We will be showcasing Chaotic at this year's Licensing Show in New York City in June. With $126.2 million in total cash and investments and no long-term debt, we remain well positioned to capitalize on this year's many new opportunities," Kahn concluded.

Nuance - Nuance Announces Fiscal 2006 Second Quarter Results

Nuance Announces Fiscal 2006 Second Quarter Results

Organic Growth in Enterprise and Embedded Markets Fuels Results
BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 9, 2006--Nuance Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: NUAN - News) today announced financial results for the second quarter ended March 31, 2006.
Nuance reported revenues of $71.7 million in the quarter ended March 31, 2006, a 35 percent increase over revenues of $53.1 million in the quarter ended March 31, 2005. On a GAAP basis, Nuance recognized a net loss of $1.4 million, or $(0.01) per share, in the quarter ended March 31, 2006, compared with a net loss of $1.0 million, or $(0.01) per share, in the quarter ended March 31, 2005.
In addition to using GAAP results in evaluating the business, management also believes it is useful to evaluate results using non-GAAP measures. Using a non-GAAP measure, Nuance reported non-GAAP net income of $10.3 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, for the period ending March 31, 2006, compared to non-GAAP income of $3.5 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, in the quarter ended March 31, 2005.
These non-GAAP figures exclude non-cash taxes and interest, amortization of intangible assets, non-cash amortization of stock-based compensation, and acquisition-related transition and integration costs and charges. See "GAAP to non-GAAP Reconciliation" below for further information on the Company's non-GAAP measure.
"Nuance's second quarter performance resulted from solid growth in our network and embedded speech businesses and through sustained progress in streamlining costs," said Paul Ricci, chairman and CEO of Nuance. "The combination of strength in our speech markets with continued progress in cost synergies from the Nuance acquisition allowed us to expand operating margins ahead of our expectations this quarter."
The Company reported particular strength in revenues in the enterprise market, worldwide, where organic growth was 28 percent and overall growth was 67 percent over the same quarter last year. In addition, Nuance reported that embedded revenues were once again at a record level, up more than 45 percent organically from the same quarter last year. Balancing these gains, the Company noted some slowdown in the quarter in the North American dictation market, primarily from effects of the Dictaphone acquisition as prospective customers assessed the effect of the Dictaphone acquisition on the Dragon MT transcription solution, and delays in converting several transactions in the pipeline of the former Nuance business in North America.
Consistent with the Company's strategy and recent trends, highlights from the quarter include:
Enterprise Speech - The Company experienced strong growth for its combination of core technologies, applications and services. Nuance once again achieved record professional services revenues in the quarter, and exited the quarter with an increase in its ratio of services-backlog-to-revenues. The Company benefited from new or expanded agreements with leading businesses and service providers, including Amtrak, Apple, Bank of America, Bell Canada, Nestle, USAA, United and XM Radio.
Directory Assistance and Premium Services - At 3GSM and CTIA, the world's premier wireless events, the Company introduced Nuance Mobile, a comprehensive initiative to deliver powerful new speech-enabled search and communication applications that improve the mobile phone experience for consumers and business professionals. Nuance Mobile includes the provision of technology, services and applications, as well as a partnering program focused on driving innovation in the market. In addition, Nuance secured a strategic design win to provide next-generation directory assistance services for a major carrier in Asia-Pacific and launched new premium services including an SMS-to-voice application at BT with Tom Baker, star of the popular "Dr. Who" series, and a voice portal for the 2006 FIFA World Cup with a large European carrier.
Dictation Solutions - Nuance's Dragon NaturallySpeaking dictation solutions continued to perform well as the Company experienced sustained interest among businesses, healthcare organizations and consumers. In particular, the Company's dictation solutions performed well in Europe where the Company signed several volume license agreements with large hospitals in France and the United Kingdom.
Embedded Speech - Revenues from embedded speech were a record in the quarter, up more than 45 percent year-over-year, driven especially by a strong performance within the automotive market. The Company secured strategic design wins with Bosch, Denso, Ford, Nokia, Philips and Volkswagen. Within the mobile phone market, Nuance introduced next-generation solutions for speech-enabled MP3 phones and Dragon Dictation for SMS and email on mobile phones.
Imaging Solutions - Nuance's imaging solutions grew ten percent over the previous year as the Company signed contracts with leading companies such as Allstate Insurance, FedEx Kinkos, The Hartford Insurance Company and United Technology Group. In particular, the Company's PDF Converter solutions contributed significantly to the year-over-year growth as its corporate channels secured several volume license agreements.
Dictaphone Acquisition - Nuance in the March 2006 quarter announced and subsequently closed the acquisition of Dictaphone Corporation. Dictaphone expands Nuance's product portfolio, market reach and revenue streams within the large and rapidly growing healthcare vertical. With an unrivaled set of solutions aimed at automating the $10 billion manual transcription processing segment within healthcare, Dictaphone has a customer base of over 4,000 hospital and outpatient facilities and approximately 400,000 physicians.

Option - Option daalt fors na tegenvallende vooruitzichten

Option daalt fors na tegenvallende vooruitzichten
Het aandeel Option gaat op Euronext Brussels onderuit na de publicatie van zijn kwartaalrapport. Nochtans wist de elekronicagroep zijn omzet en nettowinst te verdubbelen.
Option haalde in het eerste kwartaal van 2006 een nettowinst van 7,6 miljoen euro, meer dan het dubbele van vorig jaar. De omzet en de winstmarges liggen iets onder de marktverwachtingen. Dat meldt de groep in een persbericht. De omzet verdubbelde bijna over de eerste drie maanden tot 58,3 miljoen euro, iets onder de analistenprognose van 59,6 miljoen euro. De ebit kwam uit op 8,1 miljoen wat een ebitmarge van 14% opleverde. Analisten rekenden op 8,5 miljoen. De brutomarge kwam hoger uit dan verwacht op 38,5%.
Option haalde twee nieuwe design wins binnen voor zijn HSDPA ingebouwde module: één bij een grote laptopproducent en één bij een fabrikant van draadloze producten.
Option wijzigt zijn doelstellingen voor 2006 niet. Option herhaalt dat het in het eerste halfjaar een omzet van 140-145 miljoen euro zal halen en over het volledige jaar een omzetgroei van minstens 75%.
Dat veroorzaakte een verkoopgolf op de beurs. Het aandeel opende bijna 10% lager.
Option heeft in de voorbije jaren een traditie opgebouwd om bij elke kwartaalrapportering zijn prognose voor de komende kwartalen op te trekken. Het uitblijven daarvan is volgens analisten dan ook de enige verklaring voor de koersterugval. "Maar de daling is sterk overdreven", zo vinden analisten. De kwartaalcijfers bevatten immers weinig verrassingen.
Omstreeks 10.15 uur noteert het aandeel 6,8% lager op 20,96 euro bij een volume van 433.000 stuks tegenover een daggemiddelde van ongeveer 300.000.

Melexis - Q1 2006 : 28% meer omzet en winst - winst per aandeel komt uit op EUR 0,20 - beter dan verwacht

MELEXIS:- De producent van halfgeleiders voor automobieltoepassingen heeft in het eerste kwartaal van 2006 een een nettowinst van EUR 8,7 miljoen geboekt, 28% meer dan de EUR 7,017 miljoen die de groep in dezelfde periode vorig jaar realiseerde. De winst per aandeel komt uit op EUR 0,20. De omzet dikte eveneens met 28% aan tot EUR 51,2 miljoen. Voor het tweede kwartaal rekent Melexis op stabiele verkoopcijfers in vergelijking met de eerste drie maanden van het jaar. De cijfers zijn beter dan verwacht.