FARO Reports Third Quarter 2012 Results

LAKE MARY, Fla., Oct. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: FARO) today announced results for the third quarter ended September 29, 2012.  Sales in the third quarter of 2012 decreased 6.3% to $60.7 million, from $64.8 million in the third quarter of 2011.  The Company reported net income decreased to $3.7 million, or $0.21 per share, in the third quarter of 2012, from $6.4 million, or $0.38 per share, in the third quarter of 2011.

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New order bookings for the third quarter of 2012 were $61.0 million, an increase of 1.3% from $60.2 million in the third quarter of 2011. 

"Customer interest was strong in the third quarter, with leads and demos at historical rates, but economic weakness and uncertainty, particularly in Europe, resulted in delayed customer purchase decisions," stated Jay Freeland, FARO's President and CEO.  "We successfully launched the new Vantage Laser Tracker which received positive customer response and we undertook several product promotions.  However, these initiatives were still not sufficient to offset the impact of the difficult economic climate overall."    

Gross margin for the third quarter of 2012 was 53.2%, compared to 56.1% in the third quarter of 2011 and reflects lower average selling prices across major product lines, due to promotions for older model products and other pricing initiatives as well as additional manufacturing costs related to the introduction of the new Vantage Laser Tracker.

The Company's operating margin for the third quarter decreased to 8.3%, compared to 15.4% in the third quarter of 2011 and included approximately $1.0 million of professional fees related to the Company's patent litigation.

"In anticipation of continuing economic uncertainty, we intend to aggressively pursue all available sales channels, invest in R&D and maintain tight cost controls across all areas of the business," Freeland concluded.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to risks and uncertainties, such as statements about demand for its products, and its future operating results and financial condition. Statements that are not historical facts or that describe the Company's plans, objectives, projections, expectations, assumptions, strategies, or goals are forward-looking statements. In addition, words such as "intend," "believe," "will," "expect" and similar expressions or discussions of FARO's plans or other intentions identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to various known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results, performances, or achievements to differ materially from future results, performances, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Consequently, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:

• development by others of new or improved products, processes or technologies that make the Company's products obsolete or less competitive;
  
  
• production delays caused by shortages of raw materials incorporated in the Company's products;
  
  
• the cyclical nature of the industries of the Company's customers and material adverse changes in customers' access to liquidity and capital;
  
  
• declines or other adverse changes, or lack of improvement, in industries that the Company serves or the domestic and international economies in the regions of the world where the Company operates and other general economic, business, and financing conditions;
  
  
• risks associated with international operations, such as fluctuations in currency exchange rates, difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations, political and economic instability, compliance with import and export regulations, and the burdens and potential exposure of complying with a wide variety of U.S. and foreign laws and labor practices;
  
  
• other risks detailed in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011.

Forward-looking statements in this release represent the Company's judgment as of the date of this release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

About FARO
With over 30,000 installations and 15,000 customers globally, FARO Technologies, Inc. designs, develops, and markets portable, computerized measurement and imaging devices and software used to create digital models -- or to perform evaluations against an existing model -- for anything requiring highly detailed 3-D measurements, including part and assembly inspection, factory planning and asset documentation, as well as specialized applications ranging from surveying, recreating accident sites and crime scenes to digitally preserving historical sites.

FARO's technology increases productivity by dramatically reducing the amount of on-site measuring time, and the various industry-specific software packages enable users to process and present their results quickly and more effectively.

Principal products include the world's best-selling portable measurement arm -- the FaroArm; the world's best-selling laser tracker -- the FARO Laser Tracker Vantage; the FARO Laser ScanArm; FARO Focus 3D Laser Scanner; the FARO Gage, Gage-PLUS and PowerGAGE; and the CAM2 Q family of advanced CAD-based measurement and reporting software. FARO Technologies is ISO-9001 certified and ISO-17025 laboratory registered.

SOURCE FARO Technologies, Inc.

Keith Bair, Senior Vice President and CFO, keith.bair@FARO.com, +1-407-333-9911