Fabrinet Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2014 Financial Results

Fabrinet (NYSE:FN), a leading provider of advanced optical packaging and precision optical, electro-mechanical and electronic manufacturing services to original equipment manufacturers of complex products, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended June 27, 2014.

Fabrinet reported total revenue of $160.1 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2014, an increase of less than 1% compared to total revenue of $159.9 million for the comparable period in fiscal year 2013. During the fourth quarter the Company concluded that certain consignment sales did not qualify for revenue recognition in accordance with the Company’s accounting policies. This was due to a lack of clarity in the associated contracts with respect to terms related to delivery, risk of loss and title transfer. The financial impact of these consignment sales was $16.5 million and was excluded from the reported revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2014. This amount will become recognizable as revenue once the goods have been shipped in fiscal year 2015. GAAP net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2014 was $10.3 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net income of $15.1 million, or $0.43 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013. Non-GAAP net income in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 was $12.1 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, a decrease of 2.4% compared to non-GAAP net income of $12.4 million, or $0.35 per diluted share, in the same period a year ago.

For fiscal year 2014, Fabrinet reported total revenue of $677.9 million, an increase of 5.7% compared to total revenue of $641.5 million for fiscal year 2013. GAAP net income for fiscal year 2014 was $91.7 million, or $2.58 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net income of $69.0 million, or $1.98 per diluted share, in fiscal year 2013. Non-GAAP net income in fiscal year 2014 was $54.6 million, or $1.53 per diluted share, an increase of 8.1% compared to non-GAAP net income of $50.5 million, or $1.44 per diluted share, in fiscal year 2013.

Tom Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer of Fabrinet, said, "As we begin our new fiscal year, I am optimistic, as our relationships with customers have never been stronger and our pipeline of new engagements continues to grow. Despite a demand environment that remains challenging, I am confident that our focus on total customer satisfaction and world-class quality will enable us to deliver another year of profitable growth in fiscal 2015.”

Business Outlook

Based on information available as of October 16, 2014, Fabrinet expects first quarter revenue to be approximately $189 million, which includes approximately $3 million of consigned shipment revenue excluded from fiscal 2014, as discussed above. GAAP net income per share is expected to be approximately $0.30 with expected non-GAAP net income per share of approximately $0.40, based on approximately 36 million fully diluted shares outstanding.

Audit Committee Investigation

Prior to the completion of Fabrinet’s fiscal year 2014 financial results, management identified potential accounting violations with respect to consignment shipments and inventory. Subsequently, the Audit Committee of Fabrinet’s Board of Directors initiated an internal investigation concerning various accounting cut-off issues in fiscal year 2014, specifically the shipment of unfinished goods to consignment inventory and other inventory cut-off considerations. The investigation found certain process weaknesses concerning the potential to invoice unfinished goods held under consignment arrangements and the need for certain remedial measures, including (1) process improvements, (2) personnel training regarding revenue recognition policies and inventory management techniques and their relevant accounting considerations, and (3) certain personnel disciplinary actions. The Audit Committee provided these findings to the Company’s management so they could determine the potential impact on the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting.

Subsequent to completion of the Audit Committee's investigation, the Company evaluated its accounting practices surrounding consignment inventory and consignment revenue. Based on that evaluation, the Company determined that for certain volume supply agreements with its customers not all of the revenue recognition criteria prescribed by the relevant accounting literature had been met at the time revenue was recorded. Specifically, the Company misapplied the guidance when assessing the terms of these agreements with respect to when title and risk of loss transfers to its customers. As a result, the Company determined that certain sales previously recognized did not qualify for revenue recognition in the periods in which they were recognized. The Company has evaluated the impact of the errors on both a quantitative and qualitative basis under the relevant accounting guidance and determined that the errors did not have a material impact to the previously issued consolidated financial statements. Accordingly, previously issued financial statements for fiscal years 2013 and 2012 were not revised or restated.

For additional information on the Audit Committee’s investigation and the Company’s accounting practices surrounding consignment inventory and consignment revenue and the corresponding impact to the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting, please see the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 27, 2014, filed on October 16, 2014.

Conference Call Information

This press release and any other information related to the call will also be posted on Fabrinet’s website at http://investor.fabrinet.com. A recorded version of this webcast will be available approximately two hours after the call and will be archived on Fabrinet’s website for a period of one year.

About Fabrinet

Fabrinet is a leading provider of advanced optical packaging and precision optical, electro-mechanical, and electronic manufacturing services to original equipment manufacturers of complex products, such as optical communication components, modules and subsystems, industrial lasers and sensors. Fabrinet offers a broad range of advanced optical and electro-mechanical capabilities across the entire manufacturing process, including process design and engineering, supply chain management, manufacturing, advanced packaging, integration, final assembly and test. Fabrinet focuses on production of high complexity products in any mix and any volume. Fabrinet maintains engineering and manufacturing resources and facilities in Thailand, the People’s Republic of China and the United States. For more information visit: www.fabrinet.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

“Safe Harbor” Statement Under U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include our expectation that we will achieve profitable growth in fiscal 2015 and all of the statements under the “Business Outlook” section regarding our expected revenue and GAAP and non-GAAP net income per share for the first quarter of fiscal 2015. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results could vary materially from these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: potential changes to these expected operating results based on the results of the review by our independent registered public accounting firm; changes in our expected results as we complete our review and other procedures associated with closing the quarter; less customer demand for our products and services than forecasted; less growth in the optical communications, industrial lasers and sensors markets than we forecast; difficulties expanding into additional markets, such as the semiconductor processing, biotechnology, metrology and materials processing markets; increased competition in the optical manufacturing services markets; difficulties in delivering products and services that compete effectively from a price and performance perspective; our reliance on a small number of customers and suppliers; difficulties in managing our operating costs; difficulties in managing and operating our business across multiple countries (including the U.S., Thailand and the People’s Republic of China); and other important factors as described in reports and documents we file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the factors described under the section captioned “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on October 16, 2014. We disclaim any obligation to update information contained in these forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Use of Non-GAAP Financials

The Company refers to the non-GAAP financial measures cited above in making operating decisions because they provide meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s ongoing operational performance. Non-GAAP net income excludes share-based compensation expenses, follow-on offering expenses, expenses related to reduction in workforce, executive separation cost, investigation cost and income related to flooding. We have excluded these items in order to enhance investors’ understanding of our ongoing operations. The use of these non-GAAP financial measures has material limitations because they should not be used to evaluate our company without reference to their corresponding GAAP financial measures. As such, we compensate for these material limitations by using these non-GAAP financial measures in conjunction with GAAP financial measures.

These non-GAAP financial measures are used to: (1) measure company performance against historical results, (2) facilitate comparisons to our competitors’ operating results, and (3) allow greater transparency with respect to information used by management in financial and operational decision making. In addition, these non-GAAP financial measures are used to measure company performance for the purposes of determining employee incentive plan compensation.