By Goran Mijuk Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES ZURICH -(Dow Jones)- Logitech International SA (LOGI) Thursday swung to a first-quarter net profit helped by robust growth in most of its retail product categories, and it said its good performance is likely to continue for the rest of the financial year. "We exceeded our sales and profitability targets and achieved our best-ever Q1 gross margin. Based on our strong Q1 performance and improving consumer demand for our products, we are increasingly optimistic about our full-year performance for Fiscal Year 2011 and have raised our outlook accordingly," said Chief Executive Gerald P. Quindlen. Logitech, which produces computer accessories such as mice, keyboards, web cameras and multifunctional remote controls, said net income for the three months to the end of June was $20 million, compared with a net loss of $36 million a year earlier. The figure beat expectations of $4.5 million. Sales also improved, rising to $479 million, up 47% from $326 million in the year-earlier period and ahead of analyst views of $450 million. The company raised its operating income target for the fiscal year ending March to a range of $160 million to $170 million, up from $156 million. It also raised its sales outlook to a range of $2.3 billion to $2.35 billion, up from the previous target of around $2.3 billion. Logitech, based in Romanel-sur-Morges, Switzerland, has been hit hard by the global economic downturn as customers curbed spending for less essential goods such as consumer electronics. Destocking of inventories by retailers and hefty price cuts also hurt profits, prompting the company to launch a major cost-cutting program in early 2009 which helped it turn profitable in late 2009 after two quarters in the red. The company also invested heavily during the downturn, taking over video-conferencing company Lifesize and entering into an Internet TV deal with Google Inc (GOOG). -By Goran Mijuk, Dow Jones Newswires, +41 43 443 80 47; goran.mijuk@dowjones.com
