10/21 16:18 Creative Announces Record Q1 Earnings - Increases Over 250
Percent Year-To-Year
Fourth Consecutive Quarter of Record Earnings
SINGAPORE, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Creative Technology Ltd. (Nasdaq: CREAF), the world's leading provider of multimedia products for personal computers, today announced financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 1998, ended September 30, 1997. This quarter represents the fourth consecutive record quarter for the company.
Net income for the quarter increased by 252 percent over the prior year to US$51.6 million or US$0.55 per share, this is before a gain of US$18.5 million from the sale of quoted investments. This compares to net income of US$14.7 million or US$0.17 per share for the same quarter last year. Including the gain from the sale of quoted investments, the actual net income for the quarter is US$70.1 million or US$0.74 per share -- an increase of 378 percent.
Sales for the first quarter of fiscal 1998 were US$287.8 million, up from US$284.0 million for the same quarter last year.
"Our gross margins have increased for the fifth quarter in a row. They are now at 32.9 percent and our cash position has doubled in the last year to US$463 million," said Sim Wong Hoo, chairman and chief executive officer of Creative Technology Ltd. "Not only are our finances strong, our products are too. Never before in our history have we had so many stunning new products to unleash to the market. Our Sound Blaster(R) AWE64 family of audio cards continues to be widely accepted in the market and now far surpasses the Sound Blaster 16 in revenue. We have many other exciting new products including upcoming PCI audio opportunities; our PC-DVD Encore(TM) Dxr2(TM) solution; the Cambridge SoundWorks line of speakers; the Graphics Blaster(TM) Extreme(TM) line of high-performance 2D/3D graphics accelerators; and our Video Blaster(TM) WebCam. The PC market wants more than base-line performance. It wants high-quality audio and cutting-edge multimedia solutions. Creative is leading the charge to provide these solutions and our numbers prove it!"
Recent Announcements
During the first quarter of fiscal 1998, Creative made a number of announcements that demonstrate its standard-setting and advanced multimedia technology, including:
* The announcement that the company's second generation PC-DVD kit, the Creative PC-DVD EncoreDxr2 is available on store shelves worldwide. With PC- DVD Encore, Creative has accelerated the PC-DVD market by one year - raising the DVD performance bar while shocking the industry with a stop-press price of US$379.
* The introduction of a new line of high performance graphics accelerators based on the award-winning PERMEDIA(R)2 processor from 3Dlabs(R). The new Graphics Blaster Exxtreme(TM), Creative's third-generation graphics accelerator, delivers superior 2D and 3D quality, upgradeability to future technology and a breakthrough price/performance ratio.
* The announcement of PC Works(TM) speakers providing a big sound, a small size and the best price solution to the mass market.
Accolades and Recommendations
In the last quarter, Creative garnered top-rate coverage and reviews from a variety of computer trade publications and organizations. Creative's Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold was profiled in many of the major trade publications including PC Today, ComputerLife, Microtimes, Family PC, Popular Electronics. It also was chosen as the top sound card and made the prestigious "A" List in PC Computing. PC-DVD also garnered significant coverage as did the newly announced Graphics Blaster Exxtreme; and the PC Works, SoundWorks and MicroWorks speakers received top-notch awards including two "Editor's Choice" reviews from PC Gamer, a "Gameworthy" award from c/net and a "Boot Verdict - 8" from Boot Magazine.
Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
Except for the historical information contained herein or in the accompanying conference call, the statements herein and in the call (including information on future products, future marketing efforts, and future revenues, margins, expenses and earnings) are forward looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward looking statements. Such statements are subject to the attached cautionary statements which are provided pursuant to The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Creative Technology Ltd., is the world's leading provider of advanced multimedia solutions for personal computers, including sound, graphics, communications and videoconferencing products. The company's Sound Blaster technology has been accepted as the worldwide standard sound platform for PCs, and the company's global distribution network is among the most extensive in the multimedia industry. Creative is focused on enhancing the overall user experience by providing powerful, enabling, high-value technology for the mass market.
NOTE: Sound Blaster is a registered trademark and Blaster is a trademark of Creative Technology Ltd. All other products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners and are hereby recognized as such.
Safe Harbor for Forward Looking Statements:
Except for the historical information contained herein and in the accompanying conference call on today's date, the matters set forth herein and in the accompanying conference call (including information on future products, future marketing efforts, and future revenues, margins, expenses and earnings) are forward looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others: potential fluctuations in quarterly results due to the seasonality of Creative's business and the difficulty of projecting such fluctuations; reductions in the market value of products sold by Creative, including increases in supply or declines in demand or prices for CD-ROM or DVD drives, board and chip-level products, and software products; the short product cycles that characterize most of Creative's products; the increasing proliferation of sound functionality in new products from new competitors and at the application software, chip and operating system levels; Creative's reliance on sole sources for many of its chips and other key components; the timely development, ramp, delivery and market acceptance of new products, including Creative's next generation sound chips, and its graphics accelerator, video conferencing, CD-ROM and DVD drives, DVD encoder cards, communications and Internet-related products; the availability of operating capital on acceptable terms; the volatility of share prices for companies in Creative's industry and the effect of those prices or other events beyond Creative's control; and other risk factors described in Creative's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission over the past twelve months.
CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY LTD.
CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(In US$' 000, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
Three months ended September 30,
1997 1996
Sales $ 287,766 $ 284,025
Cost of goods sold 193,038 229,342
Gross profit 94,728 54,683
Operating expenses:
Selling, general and administrative 34,466 30,044
Research and development 8,981 8,099
Total operating expenses 43,447 38,143
Operating income 51,281 16,540
Gain on sale of quoted investments 18,469 --
Interest income and other, net 5,005 643
Income before income taxes and
minority interest 74,755 17,183
Provision for income taxes (5,628) (2,578)
Minority interest in loss 941 49
Net income $ 70,068 $ 14,654
Net income per share $ 0.74 $ 0.17
Average ordinary shares and
equivalents outstanding 94,430 88,214
CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY LTD.
CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED BALANCE SHEETS
(In US$' 000, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
September, 30 June, 30
1997 1997
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 462,955 $ 417,943
Accounts receivable, less allowances
of $23,273 and $21,726 151,465 119,848
Inventory 90,200 69,250
Other assets and prepaids 14,328 12,510
Total current assets 718,948 619,551
Property and equipment, net 97,344 94,582
Investments and other non-current assets 102,997 100,685
$ 919,289 $ 814,818
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable $ 140,500 $ 116,861
Other accrued liabilities 97,794 94,843
Income taxes payable 38,191 35,711
Current portion of long term obligations 206 215
Total current liabilities 276,691 247,630
Long term obligations 36,621 33,711
Minority interest in subsidiaries 9,307 10,872
Shareholders' equity:
Ordinary Shares; S$0.25 par value;
Authorized: 200,000 shares
Outstanding: 89,326 and 88,932 shares 9,125 9,060
Additional paid-in capital 140,706 138,741
Unrealised holding gains on
quoted investments 72,309 70,343
Retained earnings 374,530 304,461
Total shareholders' equity 596,670 522,605
$ 919,289 $ 814,818
SOURCE Creative Technology Ltd.
-0- 10/21/97
/CONTACT: Craig McHugh Vice President and General Manager, 408-428-6600, or Rick Myllenbeck, Director, Public Relations, 408-434-5700, or rickm@soundblaster.com, both of Creative/
(CREAF)
CO: Creative Technology Ltd.; Creative Labs, Inc. ST: California IN: CPR MLM SU: ERN
ÿ<Picture: Next Story>Creative Requests a Half-Day Delay of Trading on the Singapore Stock Excha<Picture: Return to Headlines>ÿQuote Price History ÿ
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Home ÿÿ|ÿÿ YellowÿPages ÿÿ|ÿÿ UPSÿServices ÿÿ|ÿÿ News Center ÿÿ|ÿÿ InfoseekÿInvestor ÿÿ|ÿÿ InfoseekÿWorldwide
About Infoseek ÿÿ|ÿÿ Advertising ÿÿ|ÿÿ What's New ÿÿ|ÿÿ Intranet Software ÿÿ|ÿÿ Comments
c 1997 Reality Online Inc., A REUTERS Company All rights reserved.
Copyright c 1995-97 Infoseek Corporation. All rights reserved.
Disclaimer |
