HEADS UP...THIS IS LONG..NEWS RELEASE:
Rosemary,
This is the release I read this morning..did you see it?
T.R.
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Tuesday May 12, 9:50 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Spatializer Audio Laboratories Inc. Announces Improved First-Quarter 1998 Financial Results
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 12, 1998-- Spatializer Audio Laboratories Inc. (Nasdaq:SPAZ - news) Tuesday announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 1998.
Revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 1998 were $523,000, compared with revenues of $518,000 in the first quarter of fiscal 1997, an increase of 1 percent.
The company reported a reduced net loss for the quarter of $920,000, or 4 cents basic per share, compared with a net loss of $1,027,000, or 5 cents basic per share in the comparable period last year, an improvement of 10 percent.
During the first quarter, licensing revenues increased to $516,000, compared with $398,000 in the same period last year, an increase of 30 percent. Product revenues decreased to $7,000, compared with $121,000 in the same period last year, a decline of 94 percent. This decrease in product revenue is consistent with the company's decision last year to discontinue its consumer hardware products and focus its efforts on licensing and software-only products.
The company continued to realize savings attributable to the reorganization of is Desper Products Inc. audio signal processing business and other cost-cutting measures implemented in 1997. Operating expenses decreased to $1,401,000, compared with $1,483,000 in the comparable period last year, a reduction of 6 percent.
Revenues of Desper Products were $523,000 in the first quarter of fiscal 1998, compared with revenues of $518,000 in the comparable period last year, an increase of 1 percent. Net loss decreased to $246,000 in the first quarter of fiscal 1998, compared with a net loss of $521,000 in the comparable period last year, a decline of 53 percent.
The increase in total revenue resulted from increased licensing revenue on chip foundry sales incorporating the company's 3-D audio technology by the company's licensees. The increased licensing revenue represented virtually all of DPI's revenue in the current period, while comparable period sales last year included substantial product sales, which have been discontinued.
The reduction in net loss resulted from increased higher margin licensing revenues and a 26 percent reduction in operating expenses resulting from continued efficiencies provided by the reorganization of this division in late 1996.
The net loss of MultiDisc Technologies Inc. was $674,000, compared with a net loss of $506,000 in the comparable period last year, an increase of 33 percent. The net loss is primarily composed of investment research and development on MultiDisc's proprietary CD/DVD server storage technology, the Modular Stackable Storage Library (MSSL).
The increase in the net loss resulted from accelerated prototype development in 1998 and the initiation of marketing activity for this enterprise as it enters the next phase of its development. As a developmental stage company, MultiDisc had no revenues in either the current or comparable period last year.
''With first and second quarters historically being seasonally slower in the PC and consumer electronics markets, we are satisfied by these improved first-quarter operating results. Last year at this time I stated it was going to take a few more quarters to see the increased revenue effects of market share gains,'' stated Steven D. Gershick, chairman, president and CEO of Spatializer Audio Laboratories.
''Our efforts over the last year in signing new OEM and IC foundry licenses, our aggressive penetration into the PC marketplace, as well as our cost-reduction measures are clearly taking hold. Our efforts in the first quarter have focused on strengthening our senior management team, as well as expanding the engineering and sales force at Desper Products.
''Key appointments in these areas, combined with the closing of the $5 million private placement announced last month, will position us to capitalize on our technology portfolio and market pre-eminence in the second half of fiscal 1998 and beyond,'' continued Gershick.
Evidence of this newly expanded engineering focus was DPI's introduction of enCOMPASS 2.0, which will expand the company's technological reach deeper into the PC marketplace through its positional audio extension to Microsoft's DirectSound standard.
At MDT, the engineering focus has been to expand upon the successful demonstration of its proprietary robotics technology at COMDEX last year by integrating in initial Graphical User Interface, Windows NT-based system manager and control panel applets.
MultiDisc Technologies will be an exhibitor at the AIIM '98 data storage industry show and conference in Anaheim, Calif., on May 12-14, where it will demonstrate its integrated XNS MSSL prototype with its new suite of software and data transfer control modules.
Henry R. Mandell, senior vice president, finance, and CFO of Spatializer Audio Laboratories, concluded: ''The improved performance of our advanced audio signal processing business, Desper Products, was particularly gratifying. By combining a 30 percent increase in licensing revenues at DPI with a 26 percent reduction in operating expenses, we believe that we have a powerful formula to leverage up DPI's operating performance.
''Upward momentum in this area should help to reduce the pressure on capital requirements and short-to-intermediate term operating performance, which are inherent in a developmental stage enterprise, such as MultiDisc Technologies, as we move our MSSL technology through its development phases.''
Spatializer Audio Laboratories is a leading developer, licensor and marketer of next-generation technologies for the consumer electronics, computing and entertainment industries.
The company's advance audio technology is incorporated into consumer electronics audio, video and DVD products from global brand leaders including Toshiba, Panasonic, Hitachi, Sharp, Sanyo and Proton, and in PC multimedia systems and peripherals from Compaq, AST, Dell, Gateway 2000, Fujitsu, Seiko-Epson, NEC, Micron and Labtec.
Spatializer's MultiDisc Technologies subsidiary is a leading developer of innovative and scaleable CD/DVD server designs for business and enterprise networking, the Internet, back-up and archiving applications, and specialized vertical markets, including video-on-demand.
The company's Modular Stackable Storage Library combines the robotic approach of an optical storage jukebox with the scalability of a disk array to create a data storage solution with unlimited growth potential in both capacity and performance.
Spatializer stock is traded on the Nasdaq Small Cap Market System under the symbol SPAZ. The company has headquarters in Woodland Hills, and has marketing, engineering and R&D facilities in Mountain View, Calif.; Huntington Beach, Calif.; and Tokyo. Further information may be obtained from Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, Web site, investor relations counsel or by contacting the company directly.
Safe Harbor Act Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Certain information in this news release is forward-looking and involves risk and uncertainties that could significantly impact the results, including but not limited to, dependence on new technology and intellectual property, dependence on the PC and consumer electronics industries, dependence on product shipments of third-party licensees, competition and pricing pressures, and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's periodic reports filed with the SEC.
Desper Products Inc. and MultiDisc Technologies Inc. are wholly owned subsidiaries of Spatializer Audio Laboratories Inc. Spatializer is a registered trademark of Desper Products. MultiDisc and XNS are trademarks of MultiDisc Technologies. DirectSound and Window NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. Copyright 1998 Spatializer Audio Laboratories. |
