STOCKHOLM (BRAIN) — MIPS' fourth-quarter net sales increased 41% year-over-year, while the helmet technology company's 2019 sales showed a 39% growth.
Fourth-quarter organic growth was 33% and 29% for the year. For the quarter ending Dec. 31, MIPS had net sales of 87.5 million Swedish krona ($9 million). Operating profit increased to SEK 39 million ($4 million). Earnings per diluted share increased to SEK 1.19 ($0.12).
For the year, net sales were SEK 267.9 million ($27.6 million) with operating profit increasing to SEK 108 million ($11.1 million). Earnings per diluted share increased to SEK 3.28 ($0.34).
"During 2019, we implemented the MIPS Brain Protection System (BPS) in more helmets than ever before," said Max Strandwitz, president and CEO. "As of Dec. 31, we have launched MIPS' technology in 448 helmet models, and, today, we have 78 customers located all over the world."
During the quarter, helmet brands Nutcase and Bollé announced they will adopt MIPS BPS in all bicycle and snow helmet models.
Strandwitz said the trade war truce between the U.S. and China during the latter part of the quarter helped U.S. sales. "During the third quarter, we communicated that we believed the negative impacts on the sales to U.S. helmet brands resulting from the trade tariffs between China and the U.S. were only of temporary nature," he said. "The strong momentum in the fourth quarter and positive signals from our customers make us believe that the production is now back at normal levels again."
However, with a large share of helmets manufactured in China, the deepening COVID-19 outbreak will affect MIPS production in early 2020, he said. MIPS' wholly owned Chinese subsidiary, suppliers and the majority of its customers' manufacturers are based in the Guangdong area in Southeast China, about 620 miles from the epicenter of the virus, previously called "new coronavirus," in Wuhan.
"We know that it will take some time before the Chinese manufacturers reach full production capacity due to the prolonged Chinese New Year and the gradual ramp up in production, which could lead to certain accrual effects for us," Strandwitz said.
MIPS' corporate headquarters is in Stockholm. Its stock is traded on the Stockholm Stock Exchange under the MIPS symbol. Stock quote at Marketwatch.com.
