AMTD release... should be good for EGRP:
Monday March 2, 4:00 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: AmeriTrade Holding Corporation
Ameritrade Holding Corp. to Pursue Account Generation and infrastructure Expansion
OMAHA, Neb., March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chairman and CEO of Ameritrade
Holding Corporation (Nasdaq: AMTD - news), J. Joe Ricketts, today
reported the Company's intention to continue its pursuit of account
generation by sustaining its ''$8 bucks'' national advertising campaign
for its deep discount brokerage subsidiary Ameritrade, (Inc.). At the
same time, the Company will concentrate on building its infrastructure
to support the growing business.
''Our attempt to capture customers and build brand awareness has paid
off as evidenced by the growth in new accounts,'' said Ricketts. ''The
advertising campaign has been more successful than we anticipated and
the Board and Management believe it's prudent to maintain our aggressive
posture and continue efforts to capture market share. However, we must
also focus on building our infrastructure in conjunction with our
expansion.''
Mr. Ricketts also said, ''Our advertising campaign has made Ameritrade
one of the most recognized brand names in the industry. We will continue
to evaluate the success of the advertising each quarter, as well as
evaluate our infrastructure capacity and make adjustments as necessary.
We will not lose sight of providing our customers with the trading
experience they desire at a discounted price in the pursuit of account
generation.''
During the first fiscal quarter of 1998, Ameritrade Holding Corporation
added 51,000 new accounts bringing total core accounts to 147,000 at
December 31, 1997. The Company also reported record net revenues of
$25.7 million for first quarter fiscal 1998, compared to $15.3 million
in the same period of 1997. The Company anticipates fiscal 1998 earnings
in the range of break-even to $0.05 per share compared to $1.00 per
share for the year ended September 30, 1997. |
