Motorola Solutions CEO committed to Schaumburg, may consider expansion

Motorola Solutions CEO Greg Brown said Thursday that the newly separated company is committed to Schaumburg and will make the suburb a priority when considering any new facility or expansion.

The maker of equipment and network services for public safety and national security posted a profit that offered Wall Street an optimistic outlook, giving Brown confidence that growth is likely.

“Chicago and Schaumburg remains our hub and we’re committed to this area,” Brown said during an interview with the Daily Herald. “We’re going to maintain it here and we’re thrilled with the talent that lives here... We continue to grow and look to invest here and there will be opportunities to evaluate here in the long term.”

Motorola Solutions and Motorola Mobility separated Jan. 4 from the former Motorola Inc., creating two publicly traded companies. Solutions focuses on emergency and first-responder equipment and network services, while Mobility targets consumer mobile phones, devices and home equipment.

Brown said he’s looking forward to leading the new company, saying it is now “liberating” and “exciting” with a global work force of about 23,000, including 4,500 here. In addition, Solutions still has about 7,500 workers with its former Networks staff, including 1,800 in Arlington Heights, that is preparing to transfer over to Nokia Siemens after the acquisition is completed. That completion is awaiting regulatory approval from the Chinese government.

“It’s all about tomorrow,” Brown said. “Yesterday’s news is already old. It was a long and tough experience, but it was the right thing to do.”

Brown also said that now he can focus on taking profits and reinvesting in Solutions, instead of spreading that money around to other divisions as he had to do with Motorola Inc. He also aims to boost research and development, now at about $1 billion, and move ahead with new products and services for public safety as well as national security and surveillance.

Both companies issued their first earnings report between Wednesday and Thursday and showed profits, although much of their reports reflected combined financials while under the former Motorola Inc.

Motorola Solutions on Thursday posted net income rose to $293 million, or 86 cents per share, for the fourth quarter, compared to $142 million, or 43 cents per share, for the same period a year ago. Revenue was $5.66 billion, compared to $4.79 billion during the same period a year ago.

Solutions Chief Financial Officer Ed Fitzpatrick said Thursday the company will remain conservative on investing about $3 billion of cash on hand, especially as the economy and the dollar overseas improves. He added there’s not a lot of returns on investments now, especially with lower interest rates, so he’ll focus on paying off any debt first.

“The nature of the business is much more stable than in handsets so other than one-time costs associated with the spin out, they should do fairly well the rest of the year,” said Edward Snyder, managing director and analyst with Charter Equity Research. “Though with so little history as an independent company, it remains to be seen.”

Motorola Mobility late Wednesday posted net income of $80 million, or 27 cents per share, during the fourth quarter, compared to a loss of $204 million, or 69 cents per share, for the same period a year ago. Revenues during the fourth quarter were $3.43 billion, an increase of about 20 percent, compared to $2.82 billion a year ago. However, Mobility cited likely losses as phone sales slowed due to consumers waiting for the iPhone at Verizon Wireless.

Mobility, currently based in Libertyville, may move its headquarters with a certain number of employees and executives to another location. Texas and California have been considered.