Cognicase Revenues Jump to US$62.2 Million in Q1
MONTREAL, CANADA--FEBRUARY 7, 2001 - 12:58 EST
* Q1 revenues increase 41% year-over-year
* E-Solutions revenues reach $21.5 million, or 35% of revenues
* Sequential increase in revenues, EBITDA and cash EPS compared to
Q4
COGNICASE Inc. (NASDAQ: "COGI") a leading e-business services
provider specializing in secure and scaleable real-time
transactional solutions, today announced its results for the first
quarter ended December 31, 2000.
Revenues increased 15% on a sequential basis to US$62.2 million,
compared to US$53.9 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2000,
and 41% compared to US$44.2 million for the first quarter of
fiscal 2000. Revenue growth was driven primarily by the Company's
demonstrated ability to deliver end-to-end e-solutions and
transactional solutions. E-solutions revenues increased 35% on a
sequential basis to US$21.5 million compared to US$15.9 million in
the fourth quarter, and 228% compared to US$6.6 million for the
first quarter of 2000.
EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization) was positive at US$2.2 million compared to negative
EBITDA of US$0.9 million for the fourth quarter and EBITDA of
US$3.1 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2000. Cash earnings
per share were US$0.03 compared to a cash loss per share of
US$0.08 for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2000 and cash earnings of
US$0.13 per share for the first quarter of fiscal 2000.
"We have started fiscal 2001 with a strong first quarter, with a
sequential increase of 15% for revenues compared with the fourth
quarter of last year, as well as a return to positive EBITDA and
cash EPS," said Ronald Brisebois, President and Chief Executive
Officer. "These major performance improvements have been achieved
while we continue to make important investments in research and
development in transactional software solutions."
R&D expenses net of tax credits totaled US$2.1 million, compared
to US$2.0 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2000 and US$2.1
million for the first quarter of fiscal 2000. During the quarter,
the Company began commercializing Watch4me, an infrastructure
platform enabling real-time transactional solutions. Three major
customers have been signed to date: Société des alcools du Québec
(Québec Liquor Board), General Trust of Canada and Société des
établissements de plein air du Québec (Sépaq). The Watch4me
platform incorporates an end-to-end integrated secure payment
solution for the B2B, B2C and mobile commerce markets. The
Company completed development and began commercialization of its
secure Internet Protocol payment solution for online debit and
credit transactions for which it has a strong pipeline of
opportunities.
The strong improvement in sequential results also reflects higher
resource utilization rates and the rationalization of selling,
marketing and administrative functions. The Company continues to
make improvements in its business metrics.
Management appointments
The Company announced the appointments of two senior executives:
Pierre Guindon will assume the role of Executive Vice-President
Operations. Mr. Guindon served in various management capacities,
including Vice-President Operations Support during a 15-year
career at an information technology consultancy.
Michelle Courchesne will assume the responsibilities of Executive
Vice-President, Human Resources and Communication. Ms. Courchesne
has significant management experience, including positions as
managing director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Deputy
Minister in the Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communication.
Outlook
"We have successfully focused the Company towards a
transactions-oriented business model, with an increasing
proportion of recurring revenues," added Mr. Brisebois. "The
results of the first quarter are in line with our previous
guidance and we expect to sustain revenue growth throughout the
year, resulting in sequential improvement in profitability |
