Tax-sharing deal struck for Motoman move

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Monday 17th of May 2010

Tax-sharing deal struck for Motoman move

Robot maker Motoman Inc. has cleared a hurdle toward moving its headquarters to the Austin Road interchange.

The cities of West Carrollton and Miamisburg have reached an informal revenue sharing agreement in the event that Motoman decides to leave West Carrollton for the Austin Road site, which falls in Miamisburg.

Officials said the agreement could to be formalized and approved by both cities by the end of the month.

As part of the deal, Miamisburg will reimburse West Carrollton for five years after the move based on the amount of taxes collected during this year. West Carrollton would collect 50 percent the first year and then 10 percent less, per year, during the rest of the term.

Bill Covell, director of economic development for West Carrollton, said the deal should net West Carrollton about $345,000 for the life of the agreement.

Getting an agreement was necessary because the Dayton-Montgomery County Port Authority needed West Carrollton’s blessing before it could finance the new Motoman site, which was a sticking point because it involved the move of a company within the county. The move will be a blow to West Carrollton since Motoman is one of the city’s largest employers.

West Carrollton also has asked Motoman to fund an economic development study that would cost about $100,000.

Tom Schockman, vice president of finance and chief financial officer for Motoman, declined to answer questions about when Motoman will answer West Carrollton’s request. In March, Schockman said the company whittled its consolidation plans to two potential new locations, but declined to comment further.

A new Motoman facility is expected to be about 300,000 square feet and cost $17 million to $18 million. It will consolidate as many as 275 workers into the new site, including about 75 in Troy and 200 in West Carrollton.

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2010 Outlook: Continued Profitable Growth iRobot Corp., a leader in delivering robotic technology-based solutions, recently announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended January 2, 2010. "We delivered record quarterly revenue of more than $100 million in the fourth quarter and full-year revenue of nearly $300 million. Earnings per share and Adjusted EBITDA significantly exceeded expectations for the fourth quarter and full year," said Colin Angle, chairman and chief executive officer of iRobot. "Adjusted EBITDA was $21 million, up 61 percent from 2008. We generated $41 million of operating cash flow in 2009, compared with $19 million in 2008, and improved our cash and investments position year-over-year by $36 million to nearly $77 million at year end. "We began 2010 with $42 million in backlog in our G&I business, the highest level in our company's history. This positions us well to deliver another year of solid financial performance, with significant top- and bottom-line growth, while continuing to invest in the future of our business." Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2009 increased 12.1 percent to $101.7 million, compared with $90.7 million for the same quarter one year ago. Revenue for the full year 2009 decreased 2.9 percent to $298.6 million from $307.6 million for the full year 2008. Gross margin for the fourth quarter decreased to 33.8 percent of revenue, compared with 36.1 percent of revenue in the fourth quarter of 2008. For the full year, 2009 gross margin totaled 30.5 percent of revenue, up from 30.4 percent of revenue for the full year 2008. Net income in the fourth quarter of 2009 was $5.1 million, compared with $5.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2008. Net income for the full year 2009 was $3.3 million, compared with $0.8 million for the same period in 2008. Business Highlights International home robot revenue in 2009 increased 35.2 percent from 2008 and comprised more than half of total home robot revenue for the year. Government & Industrial Robots revenue increased 10.7 percent in the fourth quarter over last year and ended the year with a record $42 million in product backlog. In 2009, operating cash flow was $40.6 million, compared with $19.1 million in 2008, as a result of improved Adjusted EBITDA and aggressive working capital management. Financial Expectations Management provides the following expectations with respect to the year ending January 1, 2011 and the first quarter ending April 3, 2010. Fiscal Year 2010:Revenue $345 - $360 millionAdjusted EBITDA $24 - $28 millionEarnings Per Share $0.20 - $0.25Q1 2010:Revenue $82 - $87 millionAdjusted EBITDA $4 - $6 millionEarnings Per Share $0.01 - $0.04About iRobot Corp. iRobot designs and builds robots that make a difference. The company's home robots help people find smarter ways to clean, and its government and industrial robots protect those in harm's way. iRobot's consumer and military robots feature iRobot Aware(R) robot intelligence systems, proprietary technology incorporating advanced concepts in navigation, mobility, manipulation and artificial intelligence.