MARCH 15--Coreco Inc. (Montreal, QC, Canada; www.coreco.com) has announced its results for the year ended December 31, 2004. For the 12-month period, revenues increased 28% to US$24,447,080 from US$19,025,777 a year earlier. The gross margin increased to 60% of revenues and net earnings doubled to US$2,416,747 or US$0.34 per share from US$1,184,254 or US$0.17 in 2003.
Fourth-quarter revenues increased 23% to US$6,119,356 on a year-over-year basis. The gross margin amounted to 58% of revenues, and net earnings of $723,967 or $0.10 per share were comparable to the previous year.
On December 31, 2004, the company held US$3,202,875 in cash and cash equivalents and had no long-term debt. Working capital remained healthy, increasing to US$9,666,142 from US$7,876,685 at the 2003 year end.
Sales in all geographic regions showed strong growth in 2004. Revenues from the USA rose by 33%, followed by Asia at 30%, Europe at 22%, and Canada at 13%. In 2004, Asia accounted for 24% of the company's total sales, Europe for 27%, the USA for 46%, and Canada for the remainder, comparable to the previous year.
By product category, sales of embedded products grew by 39%, frame grabbers by 14%, and software by 9%. Revenues from frame grabbers, embedded products, and software represented 47%, 41%, and 5% of sales, respectively. Revenues from end-user products, which almost tripled over the previous year to reach their highest level to date, accounted for 7% of revenues in 2004.
On February 16, 2005, DALSA Corporation and Coreco Inc. announced that they had entered into an arrangement agreement, pursuant to which DALSA will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Coreco, subject to certain conditions, including regulatory approvals. The total consideration paid by DALSA for Coreco is approximately C$72 million representing C$10.00 per Coreco share. The transaction is expected to close in April 2005.
