A.B. WATLEY GROUP INC. REPORTS RECORD FISCAL YEAR END REVENUE
of $20,987,613 and a 292% Increase in Trade
Volume
Business Editors
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 9, 1999--
President of parent of online brokerage firm to host conference call
on Tuesday, November 9th at 5:00 PM EST, on Vcall (www.vcall.com)
A.B. Watley Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ABWG) a premier provider of
Online and Institutional trading services through its brokerage firm
A.B. Watley, Inc. (www.abwatley.com) today announced total revenues of
$20,987,613 for the fiscal year, which ended September 30, 1999. This
is an increase of 130% from $9,119,268 during the previous fiscal
year, which ended September 30, 1998. Loss before an extraordinary
item was $624,477, equivalent to $0.09 per share. Net loss was $801,
602, or $0.11 per share, as compared to last year's net loss of
$632,410, equivalent to $0.12 loss per share.
The trading volume of A.B. Watley Group Inc.'s online brokerage
subsidiary, A.B. Watley, Inc. has increased dramatically. For fiscal
1999, A.B. Watley, Inc. had total transactions of 664,595 an increase
of 292% from 169,405 transactions in fiscal 1998.
"This has been a fantastic year for A.B. Watley. With the
implementation of our new free Level II service we have experienced
record trade volumes in October, and sequential record volumes for the
first trading week in November. We expect this growth to continue
throughout the quarter, although there may be some market uncertainty
as we approach the New Year." said Steven Malin, Chairman and CEO of
A.B Watley Group Inc. "We plan on broadening our range of financial
services and increasing our international presence, as well as
dramatically increasing our marketing of the company. We believe that
A.B. Watley is in a position to fully capitalize on what will be an
important year for the financial services industry."
The Company has made increasingly significant investments
throughout fiscal 1999 in human resources, marketing, overseas
expansion and its technological infrastructure. Most notably, the
company has increased its personnel to 123 persons at fiscal year end
as compared to 28 employees a year ago. To ensure the highest level of
customer satisfaction, A.B. Watley is focused on attracting and
securing the highest quality staff. During the fourth fiscal quarter,
A.B. Watley secured senior managers from Charles Schwab, Fleet Quick &
Reilly, Nikko Securities and New York Life.
As part of the Company's investment in broadening and
strengthening its overall technical infrastructure, the Company has
made extensive investments during the fourth fiscal quarter in
customer management systems, computer telephony integration and sales
force automation. The Company also significantly increased its sales
and marketing expenditures in the fourth quarter. "The investments we
have made in both people and technology, particularly in our Sales and
Marketing and Client Services groups, represent our ongoing commitment
to both manage our expansion intelligently and to deliver to our
clients the very best possible service in the online brokerage
industry. Expanding A.B. Watley's market presence and brand
recognition both within the U.S. and internationally is a top priority
for fiscal 2000," said Harry Simpson, President and Chief Operating
Officer. The Company's sales and marketing expenditures during the
fourth fiscal quarter increased by 101% and is expected to grow
further during the next fiscal year to include increased advertising
that will focus on select print, television, Internet and radio
placements.
Commenting on the increased investments, A.B. Watley's CFO Joseph
Ramos states, "We wisely invested in building an infrastructure that
would allow us to support not only our record increase in trading
volume of 292%, but will support what we anticipate to be record
volumes for the upcoming fiscal year. Looking to the future, we expect
modest losses as we continue to invest in our business plan
translating into dramatically increasing revenue base."
FISCAL 1999 COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS:
- January 1st, 1999 - Launches new website, www.abwatley.com.
- March 1st, 1999 - Relocates to 40 Wall Street, New York, NY.
- April 20th, 1999 - Completes Initial Public Offering.
- May 25th, 1999 - Posts Second Quarter Net Income and Record
Revenue Growth of 113%.
- Aug 3rd, 1999 - Posts Record Third Quarter Earnings, Revenue
Growth of 148% and a 317%. Increase in Trade Volume
- September 10th, 1999 - Officially changes name to A.B. Watley
Group Inc., capitalizing on brand name recognition.
- September 21st, 1999 - A. B Watley, Inc becomes the first broker
to offer free, realtime NASDAQ Level II data.
- September 27th, 1999 - A.B Watley, Inc extends trading day from
8.00 AM TO 8.00 PM EST.
- October 20th, 1999 - First overseas expansion with the
announcement of a strategic alliance with Nordnet Securities.
FOURTH QUARTER RESULTS
A.B. Watley Group Inc reported total revenues of $6,551,126 for
the fourth quarter of fiscal 1999, which ended September 30th, 1999, a
133% increase over the $2,807,524 revenues for the same period of
fiscal 1998 and 1.4% over the previous quarter. The Company reported a
net loss of $798,210 for the fourth quarter, equivalent to a $0.10
loss per share. This compares to a $18,049 loss, for the same period
of fiscal 1998 and income of $136,167, or $.02 per share for the third
quarter of fiscal 1999, which ended June 30th 1999.
ABOUT A.B. WATLEY GROUP INC.
A.B. Watley Group Inc. is the parent Company of A.B. Watley,
Inc., a multifaceted, technological and service-oriented brokerage
firm offering two proprietary online trading systems,
UltimateTrader(R) and WatleyTrader(TM), that provide realtime data
feed and instantaneous execution for the most active segment of the
online trading community. The A.B. Watley, Inc. Institutional Sales
and Trading Division specializes in the execution of complex and
sensitive large-block equity transactions for institutions, major
investment managers, insurance companies, banks, and high net worth
individuals. Under its former name, Internet Financial Services Inc.,
the Company completed its initial public offering of 2,300,000 shares
of common stock on April 20, 1999. Its recent third quarter earnings
reported a revenue growth of 148% and a 317% increase in trade volume.
A.B. Watley Group Inc.'s competitors include Etrade (NASDAQ: EGRP)
Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCH) Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) TD Waterhouse
(NYSE: TWE) DLJ Direct (NYSE: DIR) and National Discount Brokers
(NYSE: NDB)
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
Certain statements contained herein, including statements
regarding the development of services and markets and future demand
for services and other statements regarding matters that are not
historical facts, are forward-looking statements (as defined in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Any number of
conditions may occur which would materially affect important factors
in this analysis and materially change expectations. These factors
include, but are not limited to, customer trading activity, loss of
one or more significant customers, change in technology, shifts in
competitive patterns, ability to manage growth effectively, risks
associated with acquisitions including integration risks, risks
associated with strategic partnerships, various project-associated
risks, substantial competition, general economic conditions, risks
associated with intellectual property rights, risks associated with
international operations and other risk factors listed from time to
time in the A.B. Watley Group Inc.'s filings and reports with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
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A. B. Watley Group Inc. |
