Washington — Harman International Industries reported a 15 percent increase in sales but reduced net income in its fiscal first quarter compared with the same time last year.
For the quarter, ended Sept. 30, net sales were $947 million, a 15 percent increase compared with $825.5 million for the same period last year. Net income was $36.5 million for the quarter, down from the previous year’s $56.6 million.
Harman reported that its three divisions had double-digit sales growth for the first quarter. Automotive net sales for the three months were $682.3 million compared with $601.0 million last year, an increase of 14 percent. Consumer net sales increased 28 percent from $93.1 million a year ago to $119.4 million this quarter. Professional net sales were $145.2 million compared with $131.4 million last year, an increase of 11 percent.
Sidney Harman, executive chairman, and Dinesh Paliwal, vice chairman/CEO, said in a joint statement: “We achieved good results during the first quarter of fiscal 2008. Sales growth was strong due to the ramp up of an infotainment system for Chrysler and robust sales of personal navigation devices in Europe. Our initiative to develop cost saving strategies is underway and we expect to gain procurement, engineering and manufacturing efficiencies that will improve margins over the course of this fiscal year.”
Earlier in the week Harman announced that it had avoided a lawsuit with former suitors Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Goldman Sachs when they agreed to buy $400 million in convertible senior notes that Harman will use to repurchase Harman common stock. Both sides also agreed to terminate their merger agreement without fees. The investment companies announced in the spring wanted to take Harman private in an acquisition valued at about $8 billion.