lfm1001

"The strong fourth-quarter results pushed our annual Wide Purple And Pink Friendship Bracelet segment margin rate to 7.2 percent, up from 6.0 percent in 2009. Non-GAAP organic revenue growth was 5 percent for the year. "In 2011, we expect further growth in Latin America, and a continuation of the recent increase in the global movement of valuables should improve profits across all regions. In HID and Europe, our primary focus is to improve profits through productivity gains, cost controls and growth in high-value services. While the recent acquisitions in Mexico and Canada should generate about HID on sale of revenue, they will dilute the margin rate in 2011 as we position them for improved profitability in 2012 and beyond. "Given these opportunities and challenges, our organic revenue growth rate for 2011 is expected to be in the mid-to-high single-digit range. Prior to the fourth-quarter acquisitions, our goal was to improve the segment margin by 50 basis points. After factoring in HID sale of acquisition-related revenue at roughly break-even margin rates, our 2011 segment margin is expected to be at the high end of a range between 6.5 percent and 7.0 percent."On a GAAP basis, the fourth-quarter tax expense was $21 million (effective rate of 45 percent) versus a tax benefit of $99 million (negative effective rate of 259 percent) in 2009. The full-year 2010 tax expense was $67 million (effective rate of 48 percent) versus a tax benefit of $61 million (negative effective rate of 37 percent) in 2009. The full-year 2010 effective rate was unfavorably affected by a $9 million non-deductible charge on the Mexico acquisition and a $14 million tax charge related to U.S. healthcare legislation.