Imation Corp., the company that makes a range of storage devices and products, said that, based on preliminary information, it will report “substantially stronger revenue and earnings growth” than previously indicated for the first quarter that ended March 31.
The company anticipates that data storage segment revenues for the first quarter will be up nearly 15 percent over the US$219.6 million reported in the first quarter 2001, to approximately $250 million. Total company operating income for the quarter is anticipated to be nearly double the $11.8 million the company reported, for the first quarter of last year. The result: earnings per share between $0.44 and $0.48 compared with EPS of $0.25 reported for the first quarter of 2001, excluding special charges. Previously, the company had indicated that the first quarter total company operating income would be flat to slightly up from last year and data storage revenues would be up slightly.
Previously, Imation had forecasted full year data storage segment revenue growth of five to seven percent over 2001 revenues of $875.9 million, or to the range of $920 million to $937 million. They had also previously forecasted full year total company operating income growth of five to ten percent, or to a range of $57 to $60 million over 2001 operating income before restructuring and other charges of $54.1 million.