Americas drive sales success at EVS for first quarter

EVS Broadcast Equipment’s first quarter sales in 2007 topped $26 million, staying flat relative to the first quarter in 2006. “As expected, quarterly sales are stabilizing around 20 million Euros,” said Pierre L’Hoest, CEO of EVS. “This level was considered as exceptional 18 months ago but, in the meantime, our organization has strongly grown and prepares for the next level.”

Jacques Galloy, CFO, added that 1Q06 was ahead of large sporting events, which was not the case for 1Q07. “EVS growth is driven by the transition from analog tape-based to digital tapeless workflows, accelerated by the conversion from Standard Television towards High Definition. The broadcast industry anticipates these major shifts by upgrading their facilities step by step.”

Geographically, EVS sales evolution reflects the overall market trends of each region. Weaker sales in Europe is compensated by a rise of revenues from Asia but mainly America’s growth is driving matters. Europe, Middle-East and Africa (“EMEA”) sales are down as a result of a strong 1Q06 linked to the Torino Winter Games and shipments linked to the World Cup soccer in Germany. But the company expects a bounce as HD continues to spread. At the moment, 8% of outside broadcast trucks are HD ready while less than 1% EMEA TV viewers are able to watch this amazing new picture quality.

In the Americas, however, sales jumped 85% to $14 million, up $6.4 million, thanks to the ongoing replacement cycle of remote production trucks migrating to HDTV but also to major studio projects wins in both the United States and Canada.