U.S. Wireless Data Announces Results For The First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2002, Ended September 30, 2001
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 16, 2001--U.S. Wireless Data, Inc. (USWD) (OTC: USWE), the leader in transaction delivery and gateway services for the payment-processing industry, today announced financial and operating results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2002, ended September 30, 2001.
The company reported record year over year increases in revenue, as well as substantial improvement in all key operating metrics, including active sites, transactions, resellers, and merchants.
Revenue
USWD reported record revenues, for the ninth consecutive quarter, of $2.3 million for the three months ended September 30, 2001, as compared to $0.2 million or a 15-fold increase for the same period of fiscal 2000. All revenue categories contributed to the revenue increases, including activations, recurring monthly service, transactions, and equipment sales. In addition, the Company reported a 15% increase in revenue over the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2001.
Net Loss and Pro Forma Net Loss
The company reported a net loss of $4.6 million or $0.38 loss per share for the three months ended September 30, 2001 as compared to a net loss of $3.0 million or $0.35 loss per share for the three months ended September 30, 2000. The loss for the quarter included a restructuring charge of $0.6 million or $0.05 per share related to the closing and consolidation of the company's Bethesda, Maryland operations center into the company's Palmer Lake, Colorado operations center for involuntary severance, related benefits, and relocation expenses. On a pro forma basis, after excluding the restructuring charges, depreciation, amortization of goodwill related to acquisitions and other non-cash expenses, net loss was $2.8 million or $0.24 loss per share as compared to $3.1 million or $0.37 loss per share for the same period last year.
Operating Highlights
The company continues to make significant progress towards establishing its Synapse(SM) service as the standard for wireless, landline and other IP-based transaction processing services. Operating highlights as of September 30, 2001 include:
-- Signed reseller agreements exceed 180, including 10 of the top 12
merchant acquirers in the country, that process $695 billion or
72% of all bank card transactions per year.
-- Active wireless sites using Synapse equipment and services
increased 137%, to 7,500 from 3,170 during the same period last
year.
-- Transactions processed through Synapse increased 211% since the
first quarter of fiscal 2001, to 987,000 from 318,000.
-- NXT Gateway Services sites (traditional dial-up and dedicated
lines) increased 7%, to 43,900 from 40,900 during the same period
last year, an increase of 3,000 sites.
-- NXT Gateway Services transactions increased 20%, to 139 million
from 116 million during the same period last year.
-- Continued penetration of new vertical markets, including ATMs,
quick-service restaurants, taxis, vending machines, retail outlets
and sports arenas.
"The strong growth in Synapse and NXT sites is a key catalyst for increased transactions and recurring revenue for the company," said Chairman and CEO, Dean M. Leavitt. "We are pleased that the positive trends that began last fiscal year continue in all areas of the company, including increased activations and transactions counts. We owe our success to our ability to deliver quality proprietary products and services to our reseller customers, who now number more than 180 versus just 60 at this time last year."
Business activity during the quarter was brisk and included a new agreement with Datamark Technologies - a major loyalty card provider - and the addition of distributors to USWD's network, including ToLeaseIt.com and POS Depot, which have already contributed to the company's revenue stream this quarter. USWD also entered into a partnership agreement with Concord EFS, Inc., which currently processes transactions for more than 300,000 merchant locations and over 48,000 ATMs nationwide. USWD's entrance into the ATM market was further enhanced by the recent endorsement of its Synapse Adapter(TM) by NCR for its off-premise, retail automated teller machines. These machines are used in convenience stores around the country and on a temporary basis at major events. We are committed to maintaining our channel momentum with additional partnerships and increased sales activity going forward.
Discussing financial results, CFO Rick DeVincenzo said, "Achieving profitability has been one of our main priorities over the last year and we have sustained revenue growth while we continue to aggressively consolidate our acquisitions. Our revenue growth reflects the on-going demand for Synapse and NXT products and services. In the past year, we reduced overall expenses by well over 40% and headcount by more than 48%. We consolidated our Bethesda, Maryland operations center into our Palmer Lake, Colorado facility and we continue to seek opportunities to reduce operating costs and streamline our operations."
The company will conduct an investor conference call at 9:30 a.m. EST on Wednesday, November 21 to discuss results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2002, ended September 30, 2001. The dial-in number for the live conference call will be 212-346-0100. A live webcast of the conference call will be available at the U.S. Wireless Data website www.uswirelessdata.com. The call will also be simulcast at www.streetevents.com. For those who cannot listen to the live broadcast, a replay of the call will be available on these Web sites for at least 30 days. There will also be telephone replays of the call available until 11:30 a.m. EST on November 28. To listen to the telephone replay, dial 800-633-8284 (858-812-6440 outside the U.S.) and enter reservation number 20009756. |
