The following is from an earnings warning press release by one of Ascential's competitors. There is information in it that implies that Ascential's business prospects have remained sound throughout this quarter:
hummingbird.com
March 12, 2001 - Hummingbird Ltd. (NASDAQ:"HUMC" and TSE:"HUM"), a world-leading enterprise software company, today announced new guidance for its financial results for the second quarter ending March 31, 2001.
Hummingbird expects that its sales for the current second quarter will be in the range of $57 to $60 million and adjusted earnings per share between $0.33 and $0.37.
"We have recently seen customers delaying IT spending as they continue to assess the impact of current economic conditions to their business. We have experienced customer delays in orders for our connectivity products, which has resulted in lower repeat sales this quarter into these customers." said Fred Sorkin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "However, we continue to see strength in Enterprise Portal Solutions sales and we view this activity very positively."
"In spite of the weakness in economic activity, our customer base remains solid. We continue to expect to increase our market share going forward and we remain steadfastly confident about achieving our long term business goals," Sorkin added.
"We are especially proud of our strong balance sheet. We expect cash flow to remain very robust for the fiscal year 2001 and this will result in an even stronger balance sheet. This approach has always been a key element in Hummingbird's business plan and continues to provide us with an especially strong foundation and wide-ranging flexibility as we move through this period of slower economic activity," said Sorkin.
Hummingbird will hold a conference call to discuss the above at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, March 12, 2001. In order to participate in the conference call, please dial 416-695-5806 ten minutes before the scheduled start of the call.
About Hummingbird
Hummingbird (NASDAQ: HUMC; TSE: HUM) develops enterprise software solutions that provide the ability to access and act upon all business-critical information and resources, aggregated and categorized through a single user interface. Hummingbird offers these global enterprise solutions through the desktop and the Web with Hummingbird EIPTM (Enterprise Information Portal), the cornerstone product of the firm's e-Business solutions. Integrated within Hummingbird EIPTM are the firm's proven technologies for host access and network connectivity, data integration and business intelligence, analytical applications as well as document and content management. The company offers its solutions, along with related consulting, education, and support services, in more than 50 countries around the world. For more information, please visit: hummingbird.com
Note that the portion of HUMC's business that is still strong is the same area where Ascential has focused its efforts.
Phil |
