Hoover's, Inc. Announces Strong First Quarter Results; Multiple Revenue Streams Drive Growth
AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Hoover's, Inc. (Nasdaq: HOOV),
publisher of Hoover's Online (http://www.hoovers.com), a Web-based provider of
company and industry information, today announced its unaudited financial
results for its first fiscal quarter ended June 30, 1999, its first quarter as
a public company.
Revenue for the first quarter ended June 30, 1999, was $3.2 million, a
70% increase over revenue of $1.9 million for the comparable year-ago quarter.
Online information sales increased 82% and advertising, sponsorship and
e-commerce revenues increased 174% compared to the first quarter of the prior
year. Sales of print and CD-ROM products were lower due to a reduced emphasis
in this area.
Commenting on the quarter, Hoover's CEO Patrick Spain said, "Hoover's
strong sales for the quarter are due to our multiple recurring Web-based
revenue sources -- advertising, e-commerce, subscriptions and licensing. The
proceeds from our just completed IPO will allow us to continue investing to
position ourselves for further growth and build our brand in our target market
of businesspeople."
Hoover's also reported that the number of paid subscribers grew to
approximately 105,000 from 53,000 as of June 30, 1998. As of June 30, 1999,
Hoover's had 31,000 individual accounts and an estimated 74,000 seats
represented by over 1,500 enterprise accounts, as compared to
23,000 individual accounts and an estimated 30,000 seats from over
600 enterprise accounts for the comparable year-ago period, an increase of
35% and 146%, respectively.
Hoover's quarterly page views increased 87% to 35,000,000 from the
18,700,000 for the quarter ended June 30, 1998. First quarter page views were
17% higher than the 30,000,000 announced for the previous quarter ended
March 31, 1999.
Loss for the first quarter totaled $1.8 million, or $0.25 per share,
compared to losses of $0.7 million or $0.14 per share in the quarter ended
June 30, 1998. Loss before taxes, depreciation and amortization of non-cash
charges (EBITDA) was $1.1 million. The operating loss reflects increased
spending in sales and marketing, as well as product development and
technology.
Highlights of the Quarter
Hoover's announced the following business initiatives during the quarter
ended June 30, 1999:
-- Continued broadening Hoover's reach through a strategic alliance with
NBC, a unit of General Electric (NYSE: GE), which purchased a minority
stake in Hoover's, Inc. Under the terms of the Hoover's-NBC agreement,
Hoover's will license certain of its company information to CNBC.com,
NBC's financial portal. NBC and Hoover's will also co-produce
exclusive editorial intended for use both online at CNBC.com and on-air
on CNBC.
-- Established an agreement with Knowledge Universe whereby Knowledge Net
Holdings agreed to purchase various services, which may include
advertising on Hoover's Web site, sponsoring features or content areas
of Hoover's Web site, and licensing Hoover's company or industry
information and/or enterprise subscriptions. Knowledge Net Holdings
and Nextera Enterprises (Nasdaq: NXRA), an independent consulting arm
of Knowledge Universe, also purchased a minority stake in Hoover's,
Inc.
-- Concluded a new, expanded, strategic alliance with Microsoft
(Nasdaq: MSFT), which was announced in July. Under the agreement,
Hoover's Company Capsules will be included as part of the free content
provided by Microsoft's MSN MoneyCentral Investor
(http://moneycentral.msn.com). MoneyCentral visitors who want deeper
company information than offered on MoneyCentral will now be directed
to Hoover's Online. In addition, during MoneyCentral's transition from
a paid site to a free site, MoneyCentral will assist Hoover's in
converting former individual MoneyCentral subscribers into Hoover's
Online subscribers.
-- Further enhanced Hoover's Online content by offering real-time
financial and business news through the News Alert, Inc. Web site.
Hoover's visitors will be able to retrieve the latest headlines and
news stories by ticker symbol, company name and keyword, as well as
register for and personalize their news selection to track specific
topics of interest. Hoover's also selected frog, the leading
integrated creative services company, to further enhance the design of
Hoover's Web site.
-- Strengthened Hoover's management team with three senior executive
appointments. Elisabeth DeMarse joined Hoover's as executive vice
president of content, strategy and acquisitions. DeMarse spent the
last 10 years as a key executive for Michael Bloomberg at Bloomberg
Financial Markets. In addition, the company appointed Jani Farlow
Spede to vice president of advertising and e-commerce, and promoted
William R. Cargill to vice president of marketing.
About Hoover's, Inc.
Hoover's (Nasdaq: HOOV) is a provider of authoritative business
information on the Web. At the core of Hoover's is a database of company
information covering the world's largest, most influential and fastest-growing
public and private enterprises and the industries in which they operate.
Hoover's accurate, timely information is designed to provide reliable answers
to the questions of the businesspeople, academics and investors who visit the
Hoover's Online Web site (http://www.hoovers.com) and the more than 30 other
Internet and online services through which Hoover's Company Information is
available, including America Online (NYSE: AOL), Dialog (Nasdaq: DIAL), Dow
Jones (NYSE: DJ), Infoseek (Nasdaq: SEEK), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Reuters
(Nasdaq: RTRSY) and Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO).
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995: This press release may contain forward-looking statements relating to
future events or results that involve risks and uncertainties, including
statements regarding future growth in our business, increased brand awareness
in our target market, and the expected benefits of strategic relationships and
future services. Among the important factors which could cause actual results
to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are the
effectiveness of strategic relationships, market demand and acceptance of new
and enhanced services, the retention of subscribers, ability to attract new
subscribers, the attractiveness of our audience to advertisers, competition,
economic conditions specific to the Internet, as well as general economic and
market conditions and other factors detailed in Hoover's reports and documents
filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contacts:
Hoover's, Inc. Abernathy MacGregor Frank
Lynn Atchison Kathryn Akers
P) 512-374-4500 P) 212-271-5999
atchison@hoovers.com kea@abmac.com
SOURCE Hoover's Inc. |
