Friday December 20 7:48 AM EDT
Progress Software reports fourth quarter financial results
BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 20, 1996-- Progress Software Corp today announced results for its fourth quarter ended Nov. 30, 1996. Revenue for the quarter decreased 15% to $45,235,000, down from $52,998,000 in the same quarter last year. Operating income was $171,000 for the fourth quarter of 1996, down from $8,459,000 in the comparable quarter last year. Net income was $705,000, down from $6,211,000 in the fourth quarter of 1995. Earnings per share was $.05, down from $.45 in the fourth quarter of 1995.
For the twelve months ended Nov. 30, 1996 revenue decreased 2% to $176,690,000 from $180,135,000 in 1995, operating income was $4,461,000, down from $25,705,000 in 1995, and net income was $5,497,000 down from $19,057,000 in 1995. Earnings per share for the twelve months was $0.41, compared to $1.40 in 1995. The 1995 results exclude the non-recurring charge of $2,373,000 ($0.18 per share) for the purchase of in-process software development arising from Progress Software's acquisition of Crescent Software, Inc. in January 1995. Including the non-recurring charge, for the twelve months ended Nov. 30, 1995, operating income was $23,332,000, net income was $16,684,000 and earnings per share was $1.22.
In his quarterly letter to shareholders, Progress Software President Joseph W. Alsop wrote, "We realized our goals of increasing revenue, achieving positive operating income, and increasing earnings per share over the third quarter, and we will strive to achieve revenue growth and improved earnings in the future."
In the Quarter
In October, Progress Software began shipping WebSpeed(TM) 1.0, the first open development environment that enables organizations to quickly and productively build transaction processing applications on the Internet and corporate intranets.
Several dozen companies worldwide are already using WebSpeed to develop Internet Transaction Processing (ITP) applications. ITP is the foundation for the Internet business revolution, as well as an effective alternative to client/server application deployment. For example, WebSpeed applications enable customers to serve themselves by "turning the terminal around" and completing business transactions over the Internet without intermediary customer service personnel. These "self-service" applications extend corporate intranets and enable direct links to customers and other business partners over the Internet. Early adopters of this technology can offer exciting new services, enhance their competitive position and achieve market share gains while streamlining business processes.
"Prior to WebSpeed, corporate Web sites fell short in increasing profits or providing improved service because they typically couldn't allow people to directly access and use the data they needed to complete a business transaction. In addition, the entire application development process was complex and time-consuming, involving a variety of languages and interfaces such as C++, Perl and CGI," said Alsop.
"WebSpeed provides a single, integrated environment for building open and secure transaction-based business applications," Alsop continued. "Companies can use WebSpeed to leverage the Internet's global reach, cost- effectiveness, deployment simplicity and flexibility to interact with their business partners and customers at an entirely new level."
In September, Progress Software announced a joint marketing and development partnership with Security Dynamics Technologies, Inc. of Bedford, Mass., a recognized leader in protecting and managing access to computer-based information resources. The two companies will work together to more tightly integrate the WebSpeed solution and Security Dynamics' ACE/Server and SecurID technologies.
In addition, WebSpeed has garnered endorsements from key strategic partners, including Netscape Communications Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Sun Microsystems, IBM Corporation and Digital Equipment Corporation.
Progress Software also continues to significantly strengthen its client/server application development products. In November, Progress Software began shipping PROGRESS Version 8.1, the company's latest advancement in development tools to build and deploy distributed, enterprise-wide applications. Progress Software is now the only vendor to offer a practical, cost-effective application partitioning approach that is easy to implement and supports both Windows and major UNIX platforms. The key new feature in Version 8.1 is the PROGRESS AppServer(TM) software product which reduces the time to develop and deploy partitioned applications across the enterprise. In combination with WebSpeed, Version 8.1 enables customers to deploy PROGRESS- based applications across all three important computing configurations: Internet/intranet, n-tier client/server, and host-terminal.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Statements indicating that the Company "expects," "estimates," "believes," "is planning" or "plans to" are forward-looking, as are other statements concerning future financial results, product offerings or other events that have not yet occurred. There are several important factors which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Such factors, include, but are not limited to, the receipt and shipment of new orders, the timely release of enhancements to the Company's products, which could be subject to software release delays, the growth rates of certain market segments, the positioning of the Company's products in those market segments, variations in the demand for customer service and technical support, pricing pressures and the competitive environment in the software industry, consumer use of the Internet, and the Company's ability to penetrate international markets and manage its international operations. Additional information on these and other risk factors which could affect the Company's financial results is included in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission reports including the report on Form 10-Q for the third quarter ended August 31, 1996. The Company reserves the right to change its budget, product focus, product release dates, long-term plans and financial projections from time to time as circumstances warrant. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or modify the information contained in this press release in the future when such changes occur. |
