Columbia Capital Corp. Reports 3rd Quarter Record Earnings
PR Newswire - October 08, 1998 12:47
ABILENE, Texas, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- COLUMBIA CAPITAL CORP. (OTC Bulletin Board: CLCK) (the "Company") today reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 1998.
For the third quarter of fiscal 1998, the Company reported net income of $704,138 or $0.06 per share based upon 12,744,783 average shares outstanding, compared with net income of $402,171 or $0.03 per share based on 12,500,000 shares then outstanding, for the first quarter, and net income of $666,875 or $0.05 per share based upon 12,648,351 average shares outstanding, for the second quarter, of fiscal 1998. This represents an increase in earnings of 75% and 6% over the first and second quarters respectively. Total operating revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 1998 increased approximately 266% to $9,515,833 from $2,599,328 for the nine months ended September 30, 1997. Furthermore, credit card processing revenue during the nine months ended September 30, 1998 increased 640% to $7,740,448 from $1,045,981 during the nine months ended September 30, 1997.
The significant improvement in net income was due primarily to a increase in revenues to $3,678,395 in the third quarter, up from $2,495,378 and $3,342,062 in the first and second quarters of 1998, offset in part by an increase in expenses to $2,595,384 in the third quarter, up from $1,851,541 and $2,319.133 in the first and second quarters of 1998, respectively.
The Company's total assets as of September 30, 1998 increased approximately 37% and 6% to $4,819,034 from $3,510,654 and $4,556,340 in the first and second quarters of 1998, respectively. Shareholders net equity increased approximately 102% and 31% to $3,266,925 from $1,614,162 and $2,494,787 for the first and second quarters of 1998.
CLCK president Ken Klotz, stated that he was very pleased with the third quarter results. He went on to say that projected revenues from certain recently signed agreements were not included in the third quarter results because of the time necessary to secure new bank sponsorships for these programs and the initial ramp-up period required. He then said, "the Company anticipates continued growth through the acquisition of additional accounts." Since the beginning, of the second quarter, the Company has increased the net number of accounts it services from approximately 464,500 on April 1, 1998 to approximately 653,000 as of September 30, 1998.
Columbia Capital Corp. operates through its wholly-owned subsidiary, First Independent Computers, Inc. The Company is a multi-faceted information and transaction processing service organization. The services provided by the Company include credit and debit card processing and servicing, transaction processing for the health care industry, bank and financial services processing and document management and distribution set-vices. The Company concentrates on a niche market, consisting of small to medium-sized financial institutions, retailers and health care providers that have not achieved the economies of scale to operate their own in-house programs and systems.
Forward-looking statements in this press release are necessarily subject to risks and uncertainties, which may affect the accuracy of such statements. Such risks may include any delays in the addition of business or loss of existing customers. For a frill discussion of such risks, please refer to the Company's Form 10-KSB/A for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1997 and subsequent filings. The Company undertakes no obligation to update such factors or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to the forward- looking statements contained herein.
SOURCE Columbia Capital Corp.
/CONTACT: Charles LaMontagne, Chief Financial Officer of Columbia Capital
Corp., 915-674-3110, or E-mail: chuckl@bitstreet.com/
(CLCK)
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