Driven by the encouraging launch of ReSound Alera™ and continued growth in
GN
Netcom, GN's organic growth ended at 4% in Q3. EBITA in the two
operating
businesses more than doubled from DKK 44 million in Q3 2009 to DKK
118 million. 

Including the TPSA award for phase 1, the total EBITA for Q3
2010 was DKK 2,188
million. 
 
Fuelled by Unified Communications (UC), GN
Netcom generated 13% organic growth
year over year in Q3 excluding the OEM
business in Mobile Headsets. Including
the OEM business organic growth for Q3
was 3%. The UC market continues to
develop positively and the ongoing launch
of Microsoft's updated UC platform,
Microsoft Lync, is expected to accelerate
the transition that will make
headsets an integrated part of IT
infrastructure. GN Netcom delivered further
margin expansion in Q3 and reached
an EBITA margin of 11%. In preparation for
the expected acceleration of
UC-driven growth as well as Mobile's high season
in Q4, GN Netcom is presently
engaged in launching a number of new products.
The launches include a
UC-enabled speakerphone, a new series of entry-level
corded UC headsets and
the behind-the-ear Bluetooth® headset Jabra WAVE. 

Generating a 5% organic
growth in Q3, GN ReSound continues the positive organic
growth trend. This
performance was driven by the encouraging launch of ReSound
Alera™ and other
Surround Sound by ReSound™ featured products. GN ReSound is
therefore well on
its way to delivering positive organic growth for the full
year in line with
the guidance. EBITA was DKK 68 million compared to DKK 55
million in Q3 2009.


The ongoing end-to-end transformation of the supply chain continues to be
on
track, and a number of key milestones were reached in Q3. As
previously
communicated, the transformation is expected to deliver up to DKK
200 million
in cost reductions as a run rate by the end of 2011. 



HIGHLIGHTS

• Total revenue was DKK 1,248 million corresponding to 4%
organic growth
compared to Q3 2009.
 
• EBITA in the two operating
businesses more than doubled from DKK 44 million
in Q3 2009 to DKK 118
million. Including the TPSA award for phase 1, the total
EBITA for Q3 2010 was
DKK 2,188 million.
 
• Based on better-than-expected performance in GN Netcom
as well as the TPSA
award, GN raises the EBITA guidance for 2010 from DKK
425-525 million to around
DKK 2,575 million.
 
• GN Netcom revenue was DKK
452 million equivalent to organic growth of 3% and
EBITA was DKK 50 million up
from DKK (11) million last year. Excluding Mobile
OEM, organic growth was
13%.
 
• GN ReSound's revenue was DKK 794 million. Organic growth was 5%.
EBITA was
DKK 68 million, up from DKK 55 million last year.
 
• GN's
long-term financial targets are to generate an EBITA margin in line with
the
top-tier competitors and to generate organic growth better than the market. 
 
- For 2011, GN's preliminary guidance is more than 6% organic revenue growth
 
and an EBITA of DKK 675-775 million.
  - GN's financial target for 2013 is to
double the group EBITA margin to around
  19%.
 
• In early September, GN
was awarded approximately DKK 2.1 billion (before tax
and after deducting
capitalized legal fees) for phase 1 of the DPTG/TPSA
arbitration proceedings. 
Despite the fact that the award is final and legally
binding, TPSA had not
paid the amount due by the 14-day deadline established by
the Arbitration
Tribunal. Consequently, DPTG has decided, among other things,
to initiate
enforcement proceedings in Poland. With France Telecom being the
majority
shareholder of TPSA this now becomes an issue, not only between TPSA
and DPTG,
but also between France Telecom and DPTG. 


 “We have seen a solid growth
in GN Netcom's core business, driven by Unified
Communications. This growth
combined with a steady launch of new, competitive
products enables us to raise
the 2010 EBITA guidance for the second time in
2010. We now expect an EBITA of
more than DKK 200 million for 2010,” says CEO
GN Netcom, Mogens Elsberg.



“Generating a 5% organic growth in Q3, GN ReSound continues the
positive
organic growth trend. This positive development comes from the launch
of the
Surround Sound by ReSound™ featured wireless product ReSound Alera™ and
its
corresponding Beltone True™ family. The Surround Sound by ReSound™
technology
has become widely recognized in the market for its unique sound
quality,” says
CEO GN ReSound Lars Viksmoen.