MapBiz: NAVTEQ Announces Record 4th Quarter

Digital mapmaker NAVTEQ Corporation announced record revenue and income for the fourth quarter of 2005. Revenue in the quarter was up 23% from 2004 to $146.0 million. Net income was up 79% to $27.7 million..

For all of 2005, revenue was $496.5 million, an increase of 26% over 2004. Net income for 2005 was $170.8 million, compared to $54.1 million in 2004. However the net income figure was higher partly due to the recording of a net income tax benefit of $80.6 million.

NAVTEQ CEO Judson Green said, "“Our strong fourth quarter financial performance capped off another exciting year for GPS technology and digital map data. In 2005, our database powered more map-enabled devices than any other solution in Europe and North America."”

NAVTEQ'’s European revenue was up 18% over 2004. The firm has recently expanded its operations in Asia as well, purchasing Picture Map of South Korea. But operations in North America powered much of the firms record performance, increasing 38% to $172.8 million.

While hardly a household name, NAVTEQ provides the underlying digital maps for many of the web's popular mapping sites. Internet mapping has become one of the most popular tools of the web in recent years.