We have started the year in line with our expectations. Our Consumer activities held up well in the first quarter, through a combination of a resilient PND market and growth in sports products. Our Automotive business contracted as anticipated and newly booked business continued at levels which will support a growing business. We saw continued strong growth in our Telematics recurring subscription revenue and Licensing delivered double-digit revenue growth in the quarter.
Outlook 2015
Despite the currency headwinds caused by the weakening of the euro, we are re-iterating our guidance for the year. We expect revenue to grow to around 1 billion, we are maintaining the level of investment (both CAPEX and OPEX) in our core technologies at similar levels to last year and adjusted EPS1 is expected of around 0.20.
Financial and business review
We generated revenue of 205 million in the first quarter, flat compared to the same quarter last year (Q1 '14: 205 million). Our Telematics, Licensing and sport businesses grew strongly to broadly counterbalance the reduction in PND and Automotive revenue. We reported a gross margin of 54% in the first quarter (Q1 '14: 57%). The weakening of the euro caused the year on year decline of 3 percentage points. The net result for the quarter was a loss of 6.9 million, which translates to adjusted earnings per share of 0.01.
Consumer
( in millions, unless stated otherwise) | Q1 '15 | Q1 '14 | y.o.y. change | ||||||
Consumer products | 100.7 | 104.7 | -4% | ||||||
Automotive hardware | 20.9 | 20.4 | 2% | ||||||
Total Consumer revenue | 121.6 | 125.1 | -3% | ||||||
Key PND market data | |||||||||
Europe 2 |
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Market size (# units sold in millions) | 1.4 | 1.6 | -8% | ||||||
TomTom market share | 51% | 52% | |||||||
North America |
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Market size (# units sold in millions) | 0.7 | 0.8 | -17% | ||||||
TomTom market share | 16% | 19% | |||||||