SCUR news after the bell...seems to confirm the late day shakeout. Congrats to all on PRGN.
Secure Computing Reports Fourth-Quarter 2000 Operating Results Secure Computing Reports Products and Services Revenues Up 87% From the Fourth Quarter of 1999, Record Gross Margins and Narrowed Net Loss
SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan 25, 2001 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Secure Computing Corporation
(Nasdaq: SCUR), announced today fourth quarter revenues of $12.2 million, a 76%
increase compared to revenues of $6.9 million in the same quarter last year, and
a 15% increase over the prior quarter revenues of $10.6 million.
Products and Services (P&S) revenue, the company's primary area of emphasis, was
$11.1 million, an 87% increase compared to P&S revenues of $5.9 million in the
same quarter last year and a 16% increase as compared to $9.5 million in the
prior quarter. Advanced Technology (AT) contract revenue was $1.1 million
compared to $1.1 million in the prior quarter as Secure continued its strategy
of focusing only on development contracts that add value to its P&S offerings.
This strategy results in a stable AT contract revenue stream.
Net loss for the fourth quarter was $2.1 million or $.08 per share, compared to
a net loss of $7.6 million or $.34 per share in the year ago quarter. The net
loss was reduced 58%, or $.11 per share, from $0.19 per share in the prior
quarter. Net loss includes the effect of a $1.6 million gain, or $.06 cents per
share, in other income related to the sale of the Professional Services group to
Guardent, Inc. reported earlier this year. Without the effect of this gain, net
loss would have been $3.7 million or $.14 per share.
"We are reporting a quarter that met or exceeded our outlook guidance on all
fronts during a period when numerous companies have missed their targets," said
John McNulty, chairman and chief executive officer at Secure Computing. "During
the fourth quarter we had great success with sales into major accounts
worldwide," continued McNulty.
Enterprise licenses were executed by a number of industry leaders including
Lucent, a leader in broadband and mobile Internet infrastructure; Chevron, one
of the world's largest integrated petroleum companies; the National Association
of Securities Dealers and all of their affiliates including the NASDAQ; BASF,
one of the world's leading chemical companies; General Motors of Brazil, part of
the General Motors Corporation; BAE Systems, a leading international aerospace,
defense electronics and information systems organization; Gruntal & Co., a full
service investment firm; Lam Research, one of the world's largest makers of
semiconductor processing equipment; NBCi's AllBusiness.com, a comprehensive
service and commerce platform for small business; and ITOCHU, North America,
part of ITOCHU Corporation which is the tenth largest company in the world
according to Fortune Magazine, and is a leader in telecommunications,
information technology, the Internet, media and retail.
Gross margins continued to set new records for the Company at 73% for the
quarter compared to 56% in the year ago quarter and 71% in the prior quarter.
Gross margins of $8.8 million for the quarter increased $5.0 million, or 131%
from the year ago quarter. Secure's operating expenses were $12.8 million, up 1%
compared with the previous quarter and up 12% from the year ago quarter. Sales
and marketing expenses were $8.4 million, up 1% compared to $8.3 million in the
previous quarter and up 16% from the year ago quarter. Research and development
(R&D) costs of $3.4 million increased 6% from the prior quarter and increased
16% from the year ago quarter as the Company continues to invest in
next-generation products.
Included in the current quarter's R&D costs were approximately $0.5 million, or
$0.2 per share, in accelerated expenses related to Secure's next-generation
Distributed Secure Architecture (DSA) product line. This represents a 25%
increase over the prior quarter.
"As in our third quarter, these expenses were not included in the Company's
original plan and we are delighted that we were able to absorb these costs and
still make our numbers. This allows us to continue accelerating our DSA product
development and efforts with partners such as Hewlett Packard and 3Com," said
Tim McGurran, senior vice president of operations and chief financial officer.
General and administrative costs of $1.0 million were down 15% when compared to
the prior quarter and declined 23% from the year ago quarter, reflecting a
streamlined executive management team and a tight-fisted approach to cost
containment. "Our accelerating revenues, expanding margins and control over all
expense categories resulted in a further narrowing of our net loss," continued
McGurran.
Days sales outstanding were 50 days; a decrease of 21 days from the year ago
quarter and significantly better than the industry average. Cash and investments
remained healthy at $26.3 million compared to $19.8 million in the prior quarter
due to the call of the final tranche from the Series F preferred financing by
Elliott & Associates, and its affiliate, Elliott International L.P.
Approximately 90% of this final tranche has already been converted to common
shares. |
