Hey BOUF , earnings out for PDSE, who are doing the music for the Pokeman series:
Paradise Music & Entertainment First Quarter Revenues Rise 97% Yielding Substantially Reduced Net Loss NEW YORK, Nov 4, 1999 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Paradise Music & Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDSE), a multi-faceted music, entertainment and media content and services company, today announced substantially improved revenue and operating results for the fiscal 2000 first quarter ended September 30, 1999. The first quarter operating results do not yet include any contribution from Straw Dogs, a leading television commercial and video production company that Paradise has agreed to acquire pending approval of the purchase at a Special Meeting of Paradise Stockholders, scheduled for December 16, 1999. For the three-month period ended September 30, 1999, Paradise revenues increased 97% to $3,638,636, compared to revenues of $1,844,466 in the year-earlier period. The year-over-year increase was primarily attributable to contributions from Paradise's Picture Vision division as well as its PUSH Records and Rave Music divisions. Picture Vision revenues improved as a result of increased music video production activity, including three Garth Brooks music videos, the NBC television special, Garth Brooks...In The Life of Chris Gaines and a CBS/CMT television special that aired in July. PUSH Records' revenues benefited from sales of Blessid Union of Souls' "Walking Off The Buzz" album released April 27th. The album's first single, "Hey Leonardo (she likes me for me)" quickly climbed to Top 10 status on the R&R and Billboard airplay charts early in the summer, creating visibility that supported strong sales. The album and single were subsequently released in overseas markets following the solid domestic performance and a second single, "Standing at the Edge of the Earth," has recently been released in the U.S. PUSH revenues also benefited from sales of the Paul Hardcastle and JazzMasters III releases through its joint venture with the adult contemporary jazz label, Trippin' 'N Rhythm Records. The Rave Music division's revenue gains were due to increased commercial work for advertisers including Pantene, Seagrams, Goya Foods and KFC and to a greater extent, production fees related to original music compositions for the Pokemon franchise. Pokemon themes have been composed by Rave President, John Loeffler, and John Siegler, also of Rave as well as underscore music for the series which has been developed by Rave composers including Manny Corallo and John Lissauer. Loeffler and his team of composers have created music for: Pokemon, the #1 rated kids series, which airs six-days-a-week on the WB television network; the 2BA Master TV series soundtrack album on Koch Records which has been certified Gold (sales over 500,000 units) in its first two months of release; the score for the Warner Bros. feature film, Mewtwo Strikes Back, which opens nationally on November 10; and the direct-to-video animated feature, Pikachu's Winter Vacation, to be released for the holidays. Rave is proud to extend our relationship with 4Kids Entertainment in the creation of themes and other music for a range of Pokemon animated productions. To clarify for investors, Rave earns one-time production fees for the music it produces for Pokemon animation and also will participate in royalties, paid in arrears over generally a two year period, based on a variety of measures of the usage of our music. These include royalties based on sales of soundtracks, royalties based on the frequency of domestic and international performances of Pokemon television episodes featuring our music, and the international performance of the feature film. Additionally, our success with Pokemon is serving as a magnet for other creative work, benefiting both Rave and Paradise as a whole. Paradise's first quarter net loss narrowed significantly to $196,382, or $0.03 per basic share, compared to a net loss of $774,120, or $0.34 per basic share, in the fiscal 1999 first quarter. Per share results for the fiscal first quarters of 2000 and 1999 are based on 5,981,591 and 2,292,598 weighted average common shares outstanding, respectively. The increase in the weighted average is primarily due to two private equity financings completed in January and August 1999. Jesse Dylan, Paradise's Chairman and CEO, commented, "Our revenue and operating improvements reflect the early stages of our growth initiatives as well as clear benefits of our program to promote cost savings and efficiencies. Following the quarter's close, we further enhanced our senior management team by adding entertainment industry veteran M. Jay Walkingshaw as President and Chief Operating Officer. Jay is working actively to develop further growth and operating benefits from our existing businesses as well as to guide our future expansion plans. "We also launched our first initiative in the Internet space, completing a strategic equity and production partnership, in conjunction with an investment by C.C. Entertainment Partners (a strategic partnership with Chase Capital Partners), with Eruptor.com (http://www.eruptor.com), an exciting, cutting-edge entertainment and leisure Internet destination site, targeted at the fast-growing 'Generation Y' community. Eruptor is a respected innovator in the Internet space as demonstrated by their recent high profile launch, and we are very pleased to partner with them on innovative content for the converging digital marketplace." Paradise President and COO, M. Jay Walkingshaw, said, "As we continue our strategic restructuring of Paradise, we are extremely encouraged by early operating improvements and Paradise's range of internal and external growth opportunities in the music, entertainment and media markets. Paradise possesses numerous competitive advantages rooted in the dynamic team of accomplished professionals that lead each of our business segments. It has been a challenging period, but our team has responded with tremendous effort and innovative ideas that are forming the basis for a unique and exciting business with dramatic growth opportunities." Paradise also announced that it had withdrawn the second half of the common stock placement originally announced in June. The Company had planned to place $8 million of common stock with clients of The Cassandra Group, and an initial sale of $4 million worth of stock was completed in July. The second closing, however, was cancelled due to market conditions and the anticipated improvement in the Company's results over the next several months. Paradise expects to continue to review financing alternatives that can help fund the broad range of growth opportunities it foresees. Paradise Music and Entertainment, Inc. is an artist-centric and multi-faceted entertainment company focused on nurturing its growing talent base. The Company is engaged, through its wholly owned subsidiary companies, in television and theatrical motion picture theme composition and production; television program and commercial production; music video production; and musical artist recording, distribution, marketing and management. Its wholly owned subsidiary companies include (i) PUSH Records (independent record label teamed with V2 Records); (ii) Picture Vision (film, television, music video and commercial production company); (iii) Rave Music (commercial music/film score producer); and (iv) All Access Entertainment Management Group, Inc. (music artist management). Paradise has also formally agreed to acquire, subject to stockholder approval, Consolidated Entertainment, LLC (dba Straw Dogs) (a television commercial production company). Paradise has also made a strategic investment in Eruptor Entertainment, Inc. eruptor.com, a cutting-edge entertainment and leisure Internet destination site targeting "Generation Y" males. This Press Release may contain forward-looking statements with the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Actual performance and results of operations may differ materially from those projected or suggested in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the Company's judgment as of the date of this report hereof, and the Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on such statements. PARADISE MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT AND SUBSIDIARIES Consolidated Statements of Operations (unaudited) Three months ended September 30, 1999 1998 Revenues $ 3,638,636 $ 1,844,466 ----------- ----------- Operating expenses Cost of sales 2,335,729 655,003 Marketing, selling, general and administrative 1,509,504 1,970,166 Total operating expenses 3,845,233 2,625,169 ----------- ----------- Loss from operations (206,597) (780,703) Interest income 10,215 16,583 ----------- ----------- Loss before income taxes (196,382) (764,120) Income taxes 10,000 ----------- ----------- Net Loss $ (196,382) $ (774,120) =========== =========== Basic and diluted loss per common share $ (0.03) $ (0.34) =========== =========== Weighted average number of common shares outstanding 5,981,591 2,292,598 =========== =========== Copyright (C) 1999 Business Wire. All rights reserved. Distributed via COMTEX. -0- CONTACT: Paradise Music & Entertainment, Inc. Mark Pollard Vice President 212/590-2100 or Jaffoni & Collins David Collins or Robert Rinderman 212/835-8500, email: PDSE@jcir.com WEB PAGE: businesswire.com GEOGRAPHY: NEW YORK INDUSTRY CODE: MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT EARNINGS Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet with Hyperlinks to your home page. *** end of story *** |