Businessweek

AeroVironment, Inc. announced its selection by Ford Motor Company as the preferred installation partner and authorized charging station supplier for the Ford Focus Electric, C-MAX Energi and Fusion Energi plug-in electric vehicles. Ford plug-in customers can now purchase a Ford-approved 240-volt charger and schedule a turnkey professional installation with a single telephone call to AeroVironment at 1-888-219-6747. Soon customers will also have a web-based option for ordering their home charging package or purchasing their charging station. AeroVironment becomes Ford's sole provider of turnkey home charging station (pictured) installation, warranty service and onsite support.

AeroVironment, Inc. announced that Stephen F. Page has been appointed to its board of directors, effective April 24, 2013. Page was also appointed to the board's Audit Committee. Page most recently served on the corporate boards and audit committees of Lowe's Companies, Inc., PACCAR, Inc., and Liberty Mutual Holding Company Inc., where he was lead director, and on the board of trustees at Loyola Marymount University. He chaired the audit committees at PACCAR and Lowe's. Page currently serves as a trustee of Mount St. Mary's College and the Catholic Education Foundation.

AeroVironment, Inc. Presents at Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit, Apr-24-2013 11:30 AM. Venue: Grand Hyatt, New York, New York, United States. Speakers: Wahid Nawabi, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Efficient Energy Systems Business Segment.

AeroVironment, Inc. announced it received $13,800,062 of incremental funding on March 30, 2013 from the United States Army for continued performance of a contract action with a not to exceed value of $65,538,759. The order includes RQ-11B Raven systems, new miniature gimbaled payloads and initial spares packages, and is funded from the Army's fiscal 2012 procurement budget. Delivery of systems, spares and payloads is scheduled for completion by July 25, 2013. The RQ-11B Raven unmanned aircraft system is a 4.5-pound, backpackable, hand-launched sensor platform that provides day and night, real-time video imagery wirelessly to a portable ground control station for over the hill and around the corner reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition in support of tactical units. U.S. armed forces use Raven systems extensively for missions such as base security, route reconnaissance, mission planning and force protection.

AeroVironment, Inc. announced unaudited consolidated earnings results for the third quarter and nine months ended January 26, 2013. For the quarter, the company's revenue was $47.1 million, down $24.9 million from third quarter fiscal 2012 revenue of $72.0 million. The decrease in revenue resulted from decreased sales in its Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) segment of $19.6 million and in its Efficient Energy Systems (EES) segment of $5.3 million. Loss from operations was $1.1 million, a decrease of 115% from income from operations for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 of $7.3 million. The decrease in income from operations resulted from lower gross margin of $7.8 million and higher research and development (R&D) expense of $3.1 million, offset by lower selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expense of $2.4 million. Net income was $3.9 million, a decrease of $1.8 million from net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 of $5.7 million. Basic and diluted earnings per share were $0.17, a decrease of $0.09 from third quarter fiscal 2012 earnings per diluted share of $0.26. Loss before income taxes was $853,000 against income before income taxes of $7,458,000 a year ago. Operating loss was due to lower sales volumes, generating lower gross profits. For nine months, the company's revenue was $186.0 million, down 13% from the first nine months of fiscal 2012 revenue of $214.3 million. The decrease in revenue resulted from lower sales in UAS segment of $24.5 million and EES segment of $3.8 million. Income from operations was $9.8 million, a decrease of 44% from the first nine months of fiscal 2012 income from operations of $17.3 million. The decrease in income from operations resulted from lower gross margin of $5.0 million and higher R&D expense of $4.2 million, offset by lower SG&A expense of $1.6 million. Net income was $11.2 million, a decrease of $1.4 million from net income for the first nine months of fiscal 2012 of $12.7 million. Earnings per diluted share were $0.50, a decrease of $0.07 from the first nine months of fiscal 2012 income per diluted share of $0.57. Income before income taxes was $10,303,000 against $17,645,000 a year ago. Net cash provided by operating activities was $5,065,000 against $4,854,000 a year ago. Acquisitions of property and equipment were $6,528,000 against $9,856,000 a year ago. Acquisition of intangible assets was $850,000. For fiscal year 2013, the company reduced its guidance to reflect anticipated full year revenue of $230 million to $250 million, and earnings per share of $0.30 to $0.60 on a fully diluted basis, down from its previous guidance of $348 million to $370 million revenue and EPS of $1.41 to $1.51. So the current guidance would be $0.30 to $0.50 of fully-diluted earnings per share. The company expects more growth from international sales in fiscal 2014.