Monday March 2, 7:44 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Intermap Reports Year End Results
CALGARY, ALBERTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 2, 1998-- Intermap (Alberta Stock Exchange:IPG.A. - news) Intermap Technologies Ltd. reports earnings for the three months and year ended December 31, 1997. Intermap commenced operations on September 1, 1996. Consequently the four month period from September 1, 1996 to December 31, 1996 is shown as the comparative for the year ended 31st December, 1997.
Year to Four Months to
December 31, 1997 December 31, 1996
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Revenues $20,492,000 $2,479,000
Net income (loss) $ 1,013,000 ($1,295,000)
Net income (loss) per common
shares, fully diluted $0.02 ($1.21)
In February 1997, Intermap was formed by the amalgamation of Starbridge Venture Capital Inc., and Intermap Technologies Limited. Intermap had previously acquired the image mapping and reconnaissance business from IITC Holdings Ltd. [OTC BB:IITCF - news], formerly Intera Information Technologies, on September 1, 1996.
Revenue in 1997 increased by 175 percent over the annualized 1996 revenues, as a result of the introduction of the STAR-3i system and SATMAP into commercial services. Aggressive sales and marketing campaigns allowed Intermap to meet both its goals for revenue growth and positive earnings in its first full year of operation. The Company achieved successes in traditional mapping services, development of the SATMAP software, and completing commercial projects with STAR-3i on four continents and in five vertical markets. The Company's achievements in meeting and overcoming the challenges of introducing new technologies for digital mapping and the breadth of our successes in geographic vertical markets add greater significance to the financial results for the year.
Three Months to Three Months to
December 31, 1997 December 31, 1996
----------------- -----------------
Revenues $4,192,000 $1,903,000
Net income (loss) ($ 473,000) ($1,042,000)
Net income (loss) per common
share, fully diluted: ($0.01) ($0.73)
In the fourth quarter 1997, revenues and earnings improved as compared to 1996 when the Company did not operate the STAR-3i technology. However, earnings for the fourth quarter were disappointing and resulted from difficulties associated with the performance of a radar mapping contract in SE Asia in severe mountainous terrain. Substantial modifications improvements to the processing software were made in order to accommodate the severe terrain. With those changes the Company was able to complete the acquisition phase of the contract successfully and STAR-3i returned to North America in late December. These improvements will serve to increase processing efficiency and accuracy. The processing of the data from S.E. Asia has subsequently been successfully completed.
Brian Bullock, President & C.E.O. of Intermap comments, ''We are pleased that we were able to introduce an entirely new technology into the field of digital mapping during the last year. Although one project proved to be more difficult than anticipated, resulting in a loss in our fourth quarter, we look forward with greater confidence to 1998. Next year we will begin to see some of the benefits from our business strategy wherein we use our lead in technology to create an on-line library of digital data which can be sold and resold many times. We call the library Global Terrain.''
In the first quarter of 1998, Intermap's focus has been on acquiring test market data in California for it's Global Terrain data library. While much of the data has been successfully acquired, flooding in Northern California has interrupted the acquisition of the targeted volume of data and the system has subsequently been mobilized to funded contracts in Venezuela. The project work in Venezuela is an important lead step in South America as the market is expected to grow in 1998 and replace some of the work in S.E. Asia that has been delayed due to economic conditions. The work in California is also critical even though it does not generate immediate revenue and earnings because it lays the cornerstone for the new products in Global Terrain.
Intermap continues to be in the forefront of the digital mapping industry with its portfolio of mapping technologies which include its powerful new radar technology, called STAR-3i system. Intermap has exclusive rights to STAR-3i, which was initially developed for the U.S. Department of Defense by ERIM International of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Since acquiring the STAR-3i system, Intermap has further enhanced the technology by continually increasing processing throughput.
STAR-3i is an interferometric synthetic aperture radar system mounted in a LearJet that generates detailed three-dimensional digital maps, approximately 10 times more accurately than maps based on satellite data. STAR-3i was introduced commercially in January of 1997, and has since performed projects in Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Germany and the United States.
Intermap and its predecessors have done work in some 85 countries and currently has digital mapping contracts in progress or on order for countries in North and South America, Africa, Europe and several countries in Asia.
Digital mapping is used in a wide range of applications, including environmental management, locating corridors for roads, wireless communications, power lines and pipe lines, supporting the development of hydroelectric projects and the preparation to topographic planning maps.
With its head office in Calgary, Intermap employs 130 people and has offices in Ottawa, a wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary based in Denver and another office in Houston. Intermap is listed on the Alberta Stock Exchange, trades under the symbol IPG.A and can be found on the Internet at www.intermap.ca.
The Alberta Stock Exchange has neither approved or disapproved of the information contained herein.
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Contact:
Intermap Technologies Ltd.
Brian L. Bullock, 403/ 266-0900
intermap.ca
or
Intermap Technologies Ltd.
Norm Rokosh, 403/ 266-0980, Ext. 295 |
