Garmin Ltd. said its Outdoor segment revenue increased 35 percent to $121 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2011, while its Fitness segment revenue grew 17 percent to $95 million.


On an annual basis, Outdoor revenue increased 14 percent to $363 million, while Fitness revenue rose 24 percent to $298 million.

 
Together with growth at the company’s marine and aviation segments, the growth offset declines at Garmin’s automotive segment. The company also reported that it sold almost 16 million units in 2011 with unit growth in outdoor, fitness, marine and automotive OEM nearly offsetting declines in personal navigation devices (PND).


“The outdoor segment posted revenue growth of 35 percent in the fourth quarter as supply constraints that affected results in the third quarter were resolved and our broad portfolio of products saw strong holiday demand,” said Dr. Min Kao, chairman and chief executive officer of Garmin Ltd. “Some of our best sellers included our Approach S1, the Montana™ series, the eTrex series and the Astro series. Each of these product lines serves a diverse niche market which has allowed us to continue to grow. We believe this will be true again in 2012 as we fully integrate Tri‐Tronics dog training capabilities and grow share in the golf market with further innovation.


“The Fitness segment posted revenue growth of 17 percent in the quarter and full‐year growth of 24 percent,” Kao continued. “Growth in the segment fell slightly short of our expectations as we were unable to ship the Forerunner 910XT in time for the holiday season. The good news is that we are now filling back orders and customer feedback on the product has been extremely positive. We expect 2012 to be another exciting year for the segment as we launch the Vector power meter and other unique offerings that we believe will continue to drive our growth in this segment.”


Kao said Garmin expects 2012 revenue of $2.7‐$2.8 billion as growth in the outdoor, fitness, marine and aviation segments offset ongoing declines in the PND market. “We anticipate gross margins to be stable to slightly improving at 49‐50 percent and operating margins of 19‐20%, resulting in a forecasted 2012 earnings per share range of $2.45 ‐ $2.60,” he said.


This earnings per share range assumes an effective tax rate of 13 percent versus 10.8 percent in 2011 and a full‐year EUR/USD currency exchange rate of 1.30 versus 1.39 in 2011.