Today COM DEV International Ltd. [TSX:CDV] today announced fourth quarter and year end financial results for the three- and 12-month periods ended October 31, 2009.  All amounts are stated in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.
  Fiscal Year 2009 Highlights

• Revenue was $240.4 million, a 14% increase over the fiscal 2008 total of $210.3 million.
• Gross margin was 27%, compared to 26% in 2008.
• Net income was $15.3 million, or $0.21 per share, compared to a net income of $12.4 million or $0.18 per share the previous year.
• New orders totaled $249 million in the fiscal year, compared to $230 million in 2008.
• COM DEV established subsidiary exactEarth™ Ltd. to commercialize space-based AIS and other data services.

Fourth Quarter Highlights

• Q4 2009 revenue was $58.3 million, compared to $59.8 million recorded a year earlier.
• Gross margin was 25%, compared to 29% in the fourth quarter of 2008.
• Net income was $0.9 million, or $0.01 per share, compared to $4.8 million or $0.07 per share in Q4 2008.
• New orders won in the fourth quarter totaled $67 million, compared to $60 million a year earlier and $45 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2009.
• Backlog at October 31, 2009 was $163 million, compared to $156 million at the end of Q3 2009.

“We had a successful year overall in 2009, despite a weaker than expected finish in the fourth quarter,” said John Keating, CEO of COM DEV.  “We improved results in every major financial category, including orders, revenue, gross margin, and profitability, even as we continued to invest heavily in new growth initiatives.  I believe some of these initiatives, along with a strong backlog and healthy sales pipeline, will contribute to our continued growth in 2010.  We continue to expect revenue to increase by at least 10 percent on the year.”

Financial Review Fiscal 2009 revenues of $240.4 million increased by $30.1 million or 14 percent compared to the previous year.  Revenues grew in all three market segments during the year, with a revenue split of 58 percent commercial, 26 percent civil and 16 percent military, compared to a 60/25/15 split in fiscal 2008.  The growth was attributable to the high level of backlog at the start of 2009, strong order bookings and a significant revenue contribution from COM DEV USA.  Management continues to anticipate full year revenue growth of at least 10 percent in fiscal 2010.

COM DEV received new orders totaling $249 million during the year, of which 55 percent were commercial, 22 percent were civil, and 23 percent were military.  In fiscal 2008 the Company booked $230 million of new orders, with a commercial/civil/military split of 50/36/14.  Order backlog at year-end was $163 million, up moderately from $156 million on July 31, 2009, and from $158 million at the end of fiscal 2008.  Backlog was split between the Company’s commercial, civil and military sectors at a ratio of 43 percent, 36 percent and 20 percent respectively, compared to 46 percent, 35 percent and 19 percent three months earlier.  The Company expects to convert approximately 89 percent of the total backlog into revenue during fiscal 2010.

Gross margin was $64.9 million in 2009, representing 27 percent of revenues, compared to $54.1 million or 26 percent of revenues in 2008.  Improved margins resulted from higher production throughput during the year, partially offset by disappointing performance on two domestic government programs.

Total research and development spending increased less than 1 percent to $17.5 million in 2009, and as a percentage of revenue fell to 7.3 percent from 8.3 percent a year earlier.  External R&D funding fell by 50 percent from 2008 levels due mainly to a drop off of funding on a domestic government R&D program.  As a result, net R&D spending increased $4.0 million to $13.6 million.  Management expects net R&D spending to decrease in fiscal 2010.

Selling, general and administrative expense increased by $3.5 million to $33.1 million in 2009, while as a percentage of total revenue, SG&A remained consistent at 14 percent.  The increase in costs is attributable to start-up activities in the exactEarth subsidiary, SG&A expenses at the El Segundo facility, and selling costs that were $1.2 million higher during the year as a result of the high level of bidding activity.

Fiscal 2009 net income of $15.3 million increased by $2.9 million or 24 percent compared to 2008 net income of $12.4 million.

COM DEV ended the year with $21.4 million of cash and equivalents, compared to $16.1 million at October 31, 2008.  Operating activities generated $10.1 million of cash in 2009.  Financing activities generated $14.8 million of cash, as debt repayment was more than offset by $21.7 million of proceeds from a share offering completed in the second quarter.  The Company used $21.2 million of cash for investing activities during the year, including the purchase of a 30,000 square foot building in Cambridge, and continued development of key technology needed in the Company’s Mission Development Group (MDG) and in its exactEarth subsidiary. 

COM DEV had outstanding debt of $20.0 million at year end including the current portion. During the year, the Company increased its available line of credit to a maximum of $32 million from $27 million. At October 31, 2009, this facility was not drawn upon.

The Company’s basic share count averaged 73,551,227 (fully diluted: 73,604,941) in fiscal 2009, and stood at 76,100,289 on October 31, 2009.

A complete set of audited financial statements and management’s discussion and analysis for the quarter and year ended October 31, 2009, have been filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Change to Board of Directors
COM DEV also announced that Keith Ainsworth has resigned from the Company’s Board of Directors.  

“On behalf of the board and the entire company, I would like to thank Keith for his decades of contributions to COM DEV,” said Terry Reidel, Chairman of the Board of Directors.  “Keith joined the company in 1975 as an engineer and rose through the ranks to ultimately serve as CEO and Chairman. His many contributions are highly appreciated.”