Looks like we may *f i n a l l y* be on our way.........
KLP
siliconinvestor.com
Telescan Reports Record 1999 Revenue, Earnings in Fourth Quarter and Full Year
Fourth Quarter and 1999 Revenue Up 148% and 81%, Respectively Record Full Year Revenue of $30.7 million
HOUSTON, March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Telescan, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSCN) today reported that revenue rose 148% in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 1999, to a record $9.7 million from $3.9 million a year earlier, reflecting dramatic gains in the company's business, benefiting from the financial services sector's massive redistribution of content and services to the Internet. Leading Telescan's growth was revenue derived from its business to business private label alliances with major media and financial companies, which increased 488% to $4.0 million from $700,000 in the fourth quarter of 1998.
Earnings for the quarter ended December 31, 1999 were a record $1.0 million or $0.06 per basic and diluted share versus a loss of $4.0 million, or a loss of $0.32 per basic and diluted share, in the same period in 1998, which included a $1.5 million non-cash writedown taken in the fourth quarter of 1998.
Lee Barba, Telescan's recently appointed chief executive officer, said, "Financial services on the Internet grew rapidly this past year, and as the leading provider of financial tools and analytics, as well as financial website development and hosting, Telescan is positioned to benefit from the continued migration of individual investors and Blue Chip media and financial services firms to the Internet."
"Obviously, the growth strategies put in place by Telescan's management are beginning to pay huge dividends. Our focus on building products for novice and sophisticated investors and enabling our partners to private label the products and deliver them through their high traffic portals is an Internet-based business model that greatly accelerates our profit cycle," Barba said. "Additionally, we are focused on solidifying our dominant position by moving swiftly into the global market, where growth in financial services on the Internet is expected to mirror the enormous expansion currently underway in the United States," he said.
Besides major gains in revenue from private label alliances, Telescan experienced dramatic growth in the company's financial supersite, Wall Street City(R), as well as from strategic investments the company made in financial-related websites. Barba also noted that 1999 revenue from Telescan's financial supersite, Wall Street City, grew 55% compared to 1998, and is currently generating 20 million page views per month, while INVESTools' 1999 revenues increased by 243% to $5.0 million, including a record $2.1 million in the fourth quarter. Barba pointed out that the company's partnership with CNBC.com generated 16% of total fourth quarter revenue and accounted for 11% of Telescan's full year 1999 revenue.
Barba noted that during the fourth quarter Telescan also signed a three-year agreement to provide its next-generation stock screening and portfolio analysis tools to America Online's Personal Finance Channel. Last month, Telescan began providing more than 50 pages of co-branded content and services to AOL's ISP subscribers.
"We anticipate that the agreement with AOL, along with other new relationships, such as the recently announced agreement with Forbes, and continued revenue growth from our existing relationships and investments will add significantly to our growth in 2000 and beyond," Barba said.
For the year ended December 31, revenue increased $13.7 million, or 81%, to a record $30.7 million compared to $17.0 million in 1998, reflecting Telescan's successful Internet model, leading products and strong management. Year-end 1999 earnings were $1.7 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, after adjusting for $3.3 million in costs relating to the acquisition of INVESTools, compared to a loss of $6.5 million, or a loss of $0.52 per basic and diluted share in 1998, which included a $1.5 million non-cash writedown.
Barba described 1999 as a "watershed year" in Telescan's history. He noted that early in the year, Telescan signed a major content and web-hosting agreement with CNBC.com. CNBC.com's parent companies, NBC and GE Capital, became major investors in the company, acquiring a 14% stake in Telescan. In late 1999, Telescan signed the agreement to provide tools and content to AOL's Personal Finance Channel, ranked by Media Metrix as the "number one" financial destination in cyberspace.
"Our partners such as CNBC and AOL align themselves with cutting-edge global companies, and their choice of Telescan clearly indicates that we are a leading provider of products and services geared toward the financial analytics market. Additionally, our expanded agreements with American Express and other customers are strong validations of our market position as our partners look to us for additional opportunities to expand our relationships over time," Barba said.
Telescan also made major strategic investments during the fourth quarter, acquiring 19.9% of Tachyon Systems, L.L.C. through a $2.3 million investment and issuing a $4.2 million secured loan to TeamVest, L.L.C., convertible to a 6% equity stake. Tachyon, a developer of technologies that capture, clean and analyze real-time market data for traders and investors, and Telescan are developing real-time analytical tools for the 6,500-plus stocks displayed on Nasdaq Level II. Telescan and TeamVest, an online investment advisor with a suite of 401k-related Internet products, are licensing various technologies and content to one another.
About Telescan
Houston-based Telescan (http://www.telescan.com) is an industry leader in providing Internet services, innovative solutions for online technology and data retrieval tools for the financial and publishing industries, and also provides proprietary analytics and content to individual investors. Telescan's Internet supersite, Wall Street City(R) (http://www.wallstreetcity.com), provides a powerful suite of search tools, technical analysis and financial data. Telescan's wholly owned subsidiary, INVESTools Inc., operates the leading investment advisory subscription website (http://www.investools.com), featuring portfolio advice from proven money managers.
Telescan provides Internet services via private-label versions of its proprietary Internet technology to many of the nation's leading financial services and media companies, including America Online, American Express, Fidelity Investments, Forbes, GlobalNetFinancial, NBC, and Time Inc. New Media (Fortune).
"Safe Harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this news release that may be considered forward-looking statements could be subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those projected. These include uncertainties in the market, competition, legal, success of marketing efforts and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's SEC reports. The company assumes no obligation to update the information in this release.
TELESCAN INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations
(In thousands, except per share amounts)
Quarter Ended Dec 31 Year Ended Dec 31
1999 1998 1999 1998
Revenue
Online service 9,259 3,515 28,820 15,091
Products 66 179 463 713
Contract revenue
from affiliates 401 228 1,369 1,152
Total revenue 9,726 3,922 30,652 16,956
Costs and expenses
Cost of online service 4,418 2,480 14,113 9,386
Cost of products 95 92 365 353
Research and development 163 240 594 697
Selling and marketing 1,218 1,312 4,703 4,082
General and
administrative 3,097 2,134 9,661 6,993
Loss on write down
of impaired assets -- 1,530 -- 1,530
Acquisition Costs -- -- 3,287 --
Interest (income) expense
and other - net (268) 166 (379) 555
Total costs and
expenses 8,723 7,954 32,344 23,596
Loss before minority
interest 1,003 (4,032) (1,692) (6,640)
Minority interest loss -- 27 56 142
Income from discontinued
operations -- 19 -- 19
Net income (loss) 1,003 (3,986) (1,636) (6,479)
Preferred dividends 37 37 150 138
Net income available
to common shareholders 966 (4,023) (1,786) (6,617)
Net income (loss)
per share - basic 0.06 (0.32) (0.12) (0.52)
Net income (loss) per
share - diluted 0.06 (0.32) (0.12) (0.52)
Average Basic Shares 16,511 12,770 15,486 12,654
Average Diluted Shares 17,348 12,770 15,486 12,654
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