News

NCR announces Q4 2009 results, recaps recent growth

February 3, 2010

"The economic challenges that 2009 imposed on our business affected our results but did not slow the initiatives we're putting in place to build NCR into an exciting growth company," said Bill Nuti, chairman and CEO of NCR. "This year we successfully launched our entertainment business, opened new manufacturing plants and greatly strengthened our operating infrastructure. Despite tough end-market conditions, we also finished 2009 on a solid note, exceeding expectations largely due to improvements in our core industries. Taken together, we believe these accomplishments and our ongoing commitment to investing in innovation put us firmly on the path to produce better results in 2010 and make continued progress toward our long term goals."

In the fourth quarter of 2009, NCR continued the integration of its services business into the Industry Solutions Group, which is comprised of the Financial, Retail, Entertainment, Travel and Gaming, and Healthcare solutions offerings. In the fourth quarter, NCR also deployed its self-service technologies across the entertainment, travel and retail markets and drove increased penetration of its core ATM solutions.

NCR further advanced its entertainment kiosk strategy during the fourth quarter and exceeded its goal to roll out the first 2,500 DVD-rental kiosks by year end.

In December, NCR significantly expanded its network of DVD-rental kiosks through the acquisition of DVDPlay, an operator of approximately 1,300 kiosks in the United States and Canada. NCR will convert the acquired kiosks to its BLOCKBUSTER Express brand and plans further expansion in DVDPlay locations. NCR also installed its BLOCKBUSTER Express brand DVD-rental kiosks in more than 200 Duane Reade locations in New York, resulting in the largest deployment of DVD-rental kiosks in New York City; expanded its DVD-rental kiosks to Tedeschi Food Shops, a 188-location convenience store chain in New England; and also continued deployment of its DVD-rental kiosks in Publix Super Markets across the Southeast.

NCR and MOD Systems announced a digital download pilot that will allow consumers to select a title from a DVD-rental kiosk, rapidly download the title to a secure digital memory card and then play the title on a home television. NCR's existing kiosks, including its outdoor kiosk, were deployed "digital download ready" and NCR expects to integrate this advanced technology across its kiosk footprint as digital download gains in popularity.

NCR expanded its travel business with China Southern Airlines, which purchased 40 additional self-service check-in kiosks following the deployment of 30 NCR TouchPort kiosks earlier this year. The additional kiosks ordered make NCR the airline's primary kiosk supplier as it takes steps to further meet the growing preference for self-service channels among its customers. In total, the two deployments will give NCR an established presence in eight of China Southern Airlines' major transportation hubs.

In the retail vertical, NCR acquired Netkey, a market-leading provider of kiosk and digital signage software applications used to deliver a growing range of multi-industry self-service applications. NCR will combine Netkey's software platform with its existing technologies to provide a best-in-class enterprise solution which includes software applications, one of the broadest hardware portfolios in the industry and an advanced suite of services.