PSDE Forgotten Pokey Play
PDSE DOES POKEMON MOVIE SCORE
Paradise Music & Entertainment First Quarter Revenues Rise 97% Yielding
Substantially Reduced Net Loss
NEW YORK, Nov 4, 1999 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Paradise Music &
Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDSE), a multi-faceted music, entertainment
and media content and services company, today announced substantially
improved revenue and operating results for the fiscal 2000 first
quarter ended September 30, 1999. The first quarter operating results
do not yet include any contribution from Straw Dogs, a leading
television commercial and video production company that Paradise has
agreed to acquire pending approval of the purchase at a Special Meeting
of Paradise Stockholders, scheduled for December 16, 1999.
For the three-month period ended September 30, 1999, Paradise revenues
increased 97% to $3,638,636, compared to revenues of $1,844,466 in the
year-earlier period. The year-over-year increase was primarily
attributable to contributions from Paradise's Picture Vision division
as well as its PUSH Records and Rave Music divisions.
Picture Vision revenues improved as a result of increased music video
production activity, including three Garth Brooks music videos, the NBC
television special, Garth Brooks...In The Life of Chris Gaines and a
CBS/CMT television special that aired in July.
PUSH Records' revenues benefited from sales of Blessid Union of Souls'
"Walking Off The Buzz" album released April 27th. The album's first
single, "Hey Leonardo (she likes me for me)" quickly climbed to Top 10
status on the R&R and Billboard airplay charts early in the summer,
creating visibility that supported strong sales. The album and single
were subsequently released in overseas markets following the solid
domestic performance and a second single, "Standing at the Edge of the
Earth," has recently been released in the U.S. PUSH revenues also
benefited from sales of the Paul Hardcastle and JazzMasters III
releases through its joint venture with the adult contemporary jazz
label, Trippin' 'N Rhythm Records.
The Rave Music division's revenue gains were due to increased
commercial work for advertisers including Pantene, Seagrams, Goya Foods
and KFC and to a greater extent, production fees related to original
music compositions for the Pokemon franchise. Pokemon themes have been
composed by Rave President, John Loeffler, and John Siegler, also of
Rave as well as underscore music for the series which has been
developed by Rave composers including Manny Corallo and John Lissauer.
Loeffler and his team of composers have created music for: Pokemon, the
#1 rated kids series, which airs six-days-a-week on the WB television
network; the 2BA Master TV series soundtrack album on Koch Records
which has been certified Gold (sales over 500,000 units) in its first
two months of release; the score for the Warner Bros. feature film,
Mewtwo Strikes Back, which opens nationally on November 10; and the
direct-to-video animated feature, Pikachu's Winter Vacation, to be
released for the holidays.
Rave is proud to extend our relationship with 4Kids Entertainment in
the creation of themes and other music for a range of Pokemon animated
productions. To clarify for investors, Rave earns one-time production
fees for the music it produces for Pokemon animation and also will
participate in royalties, paid in arrears over generally a two year
period, based on a variety of measures of the usage of our music. These
include royalties based on sales of soundtracks, royalties based on the
frequency of domestic and international performances of Pokemon
television episodes featuring our music, and the international
performance of the feature film. Additionally, our success with Pokemon
is serving as a magnet for other creative work, benefiting both Rave
and Paradise as a whole.
Paradise's first quarter net loss narrowed significantly to $196,382,
or $0.03 per basic share, compared to a net loss of $774,120, or $0.34
per basic share, in the fiscal 1999 first quarter. Per share results
for the fiscal first quarters of 2000 and 1999 are based on 5,981,591
and 2,292,598 weighted average common shares outstanding, respectively.
The increase in the weighted average is primarily due to two private
equity financings completed in January and August 1999.
Jesse Dylan, Paradise's Chairman and CEO, commented, "Our revenue and
operating improvements reflect the early stages of our growth
initiatives as well as clear benefits of our program to promote cost
savings and efficiencies. Following the quarter's close, we further
enhanced our senior management team by adding entertainment industry
veteran M. Jay Walkingshaw as President and Chief Operating Officer.
Jay is working actively to develop further growth and operating
benefits from our existing businesses as well as to guide our future
expansion plans.
"We also launched our first initiative in the Internet space,
completing a strategic equity and production partnership, in
conjunction with an investment by C.C. Entertainment Partners (a
strategic partnership with Chase Capital Partners), with Eruptor.com
(http://www.eruptor.com), an exciting, cutting-edge entertainment and
leisure Internet destination site, targeted at the fast-growing
'Generation Y' community. Eruptor is a respected innovator in the
Internet space as demonstrated by their recent high profile launch, and
we are very pleased to partner with them on innovative content for the
converging digital marketplace."
Paradise President and COO, M. Jay Walkingshaw, said, "As we continue
our strategic restructuring of Paradise, we are extremely encouraged by
early operating improvements and Paradise's range of internal and
external growth opportunities in the music, entertainment and media
markets. Paradise possesses numerous competitive advantages rooted in
the dynamic team of accomplished professionals that lead each of our
business segments. It has been a challenging period, but our team has
responded with tremendous effort and innovative ideas that are forming
the basis for a unique and exciting business with dramatic growth
opportunities."
Paradise also announced that it had withdrawn the second half of the
common stock placement originally announced in June. The Company had
planned to place $8 million of common stock with clients of The
Cassandra Group, and an initial sale of $4 million worth of stock was
completed in July. The second closing, however, was cancelled due to
market conditions and the anticipated improvement in the Company's
results over the next several months. Paradise expects to continue to
review financing alternatives that can help fund the broad range of
growth opportunities it foresees.
Paradise Music and Entertainment, Inc. is an artist-centric and
multi-faceted entertainment company focused on nurturing its growing
talent base. The Company is engaged, through its wholly owned
subsidiary companies, in television and theatrical motion picture theme
composition and production; television program and commercial
production; music video production; and musical artist recording,
distribution, marketing and management. Its wholly owned subsidiary
companies include (i) PUSH Records (independent record label teamed
with V2 Records); (ii) Picture Vision (film, television, music video
and commercial production company); (iii) Rave Music (commercial
music/film score producer); and (iv) All Access Entertainment
Management Group, Inc. (music artist management). Paradise has also
formally agreed to acquire, subject to stockholder approval,
Consolidated Entertainment, LLC (dba Straw Dogs) (a television
commercial production company). Paradise has also made a strategic
investment in Eruptor Entertainment, Inc. eruptor.com, a
cutting-edge entertainment and leisure Internet destination site
targeting "Generation Y" males.
This Press Release may contain forward-looking statements with the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently
uncertain. Actual performance and results of operations may differ
materially from those projected or suggested in the forward-looking
statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent
the Company's judgment as of the date of this report hereof, and the
Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on such
statements.
PARADISE MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT
AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statements of Operations
(unaudited)
Three months ended September 30,
1999 1998
Revenues $ 3,638,636 $ 1,844,466
----------- -----------
Operating expenses
Cost of sales 2,335,729 655,003
Marketing, selling, general and
administrative 1,509,504 1,970,166
Total operating expenses 3,845,233 2,625,169
----------- -----------
Loss from operations (206,597) (780,703)
Interest income 10,215 16,583
----------- -----------
Loss before income taxes (196,382) (764,120)
Income taxes 10,000
----------- -----------
Net Loss $ (196,382) $ (774,120)
=========== =========== Basic and
diluted loss per common share $ (0.03) $ (0.34)
=========== =========== Weighted
average number
of common shares outstanding 5,981,591 2,292,598
=========== ===========
Copyright (C) 1999 Business Wire. All rights reserved.
Distributed via COMTEX.
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CONTACT: Paradise Music & Entertainment, Inc.
Mark Pollard
Vice President
212/590-2100
or
Jaffoni & Collins
David Collins or Robert Rinderman
212/835-8500, email: PDSE@jcir.com
WEB PAGE: businesswire.com
GEOGRAPHY: NEW YORK
INDUSTRY CODE: MUSIC
ENTERTAINMENT
EARNINGS
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