To: A. Wayne who wrote (1034 ) 5/17/2000 7:11:00 PM From: A. Wayne Respond to of 1138
Legato Announces First Quarter Fiscal 2000 Results MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA, May 17, 2000 Legato Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: LGTO), a worldwide leader in enterprise storage management, today announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2000. For the first quarter, the Company reported revenue of $60.5 million, representing an increase of 38% over last year's restated first quarter revenue of $43.9 million. Net loss and net loss per share totaled $(10.0) million and $(0.12), respectively. This compared with net income and diluted earnings per share of $2.8 million and $0.03 in the first quarter of last year, as restated. Net income and diluted earnings per share, excluding merger-related costs and goodwill amortization, totaled $425,000 and $0.00 per share, respectively, compared with $3.4 million and $0.04 per share in the first quarter of 1999, as restated. "Obviously, these results fell short of our expectations, largely as the result of greater-than-anticipated sales force attrition and management distraction in the last days of the quarter, as the side agreement problem emerged and was investigated," said Louis C. Cole, Legato's president and chief executive officer. "Now that the board has taken action to address these issues, we are returning our focus to customers, partners, and employees. We are committed to growing our sales organization and improving our execution as we move through fiscal year 2000, while continuing to invest in product development and customer support. While we believe Q2 revenue will be flat and we will operate around breakeven, we believe revenue and profits will rise modestly sequentially in the second half of the year. Overall, we expect recent disruptions to limit revenue growth for this year to the 10% range compared to 1999, but we would expect more rapid growth in 2001, since market demand appears to be strong, our offerings remain highly differentiated, and we enjoy a leading competitive position. As we look ahead, we are convinced that our solutions will continue to represent an attractive value proposition to customers," Cole concluded.