Press Release from Yahoo....
biz.yahoo.com
Tuesday January 20, 3:27 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Presstek, Inc.
Presstek Corresponds With Shareholders
HUDSON, N.H., Jan. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Presstek, Inc. (Nasdaq: PRST - news) today announced that it is sending the following letter to its shareholders.
Dear Shareholder:
Many of you have recently contacted the Company concerning a variety of issues, including misinformation in the marketplace regarding Presstek. In response to your questions, we have decided to provide a general overview of our existing commercial base and certain current plans for the future.
Your management team has made the long-term strategic decision to broaden its customer base, alliances, and products. Many of the following recent events reflect this strategy.
Recently, Presstek and Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. announced an agreement related to the use of our Direct Imaging technology for on-press, off-press, and consumable applications. We believe that this is an important new relationship for our Company, and we intend to take full advantage of this new opportunity as it develops in the future to expand our business with both new and existing products.
We also recently completed the acquisition of Heath Custom Press. This acquisition is an important element of our long-term strategy which is to further strengthen our intellectual property position as it relates to new technologies for the offset color printing markets. We believe that the patents and know-how owned by Presstek, as a result of the Heath acquisition, will play an important part in implementing new ways of expanding the use of our direct-to-press imaging technology and consumable printing plates.
The Company is continuing its ongoing relationship with Heidelberg (despite recent published speculation to the contrary). While the Company and Heidelberg continue to discuss matters relating to Heidelberg's future production requirements, both companies have already agreed to the use of Presstek's technology for future Heidelberg products.
Heidelberg has further expressed its intention to maintain its relationship with the Company and will continue to be an important customer to Presstek in the future. However, the backlog that existed for the Quickmaster DI has recently been filled and the Company's future Quickmaster imaging kit production will be based on Heidelberg's ongoing worldwide order rate and inventory levels. This may result in the Company's future revenues from its Quickmaster
imaging kit being subject to unpredictable quarterly fluctuations. In parallel, the Company's other revenues will continue to depend upon its existing and new products, existing and new customers, and existing and new alliances. An important contributor should be PEARLgold, which is expected to be in serial production by the middle of this year.
Presstek and Imation continue in the development of the new Matchprint(TM) Laser Proof system which uses Presstek's imaging technology for the production of high quality, dot-for-dot press proofs. This new system is now in beta test, and barring any unforeseen difficulties, both companies anticipate market activities will get underway in early 1998.
Scitex, a world leader in electronic prepress systems and digital imaging products, continues with its development program for a new, large format direct imaging press. This new product, called the Karat 74, will employ Presstek's intellectual property based on a licensing agreement between the two companies and will also use Presstek's thermal ablation printing plates.
Alcoa Packaging Equipment recently demonstrated their Presstek based direct-to-press system, which uses the Company's latest PEARLdry(TM) printing plates for the production of high quality images for two-piece beverage can decorating. This new system produced printed beverage cans which won first place for innovation in metal decorating at a recent National Metal Decorating Association meeting. Alcoa and Presstek are continuing to work together to develop this new market opportunity.
Sakurai Graphic Systems Corp. also continues to market Presstek's PEARLsetter based computer-to-plate system on a worldwide basis, under their own logo as the Sakurai Plate Master. Sakurai expects to see its initial investment and efforts in marketing this product to produce increased orders through its distribution channels in 1998.
Omnitrade Industrial Co. Ltd., which sells its large format four and five-color presses equipped with Presstek's Direct Imaging technology, has reported increased sales activities with this product. Based on the initial installations of this 4-page format digital press, Omnitrade has advised the Company that they expect to see the early market acceptance of this product continue into the future.
Nilpeter, a Danish based manufacturer of specialized web presses, uses Presstek's Direct Imaging technology in a unique press cassette imaging system designed by Presstek for Nilpeter. They recently completed a successful beta test in Denmark. Nilpeter has now begun to market this new product in both Europe and the U.S. This product also uses Presstek's proprietary thermal ablation printing plates.
Presstek and Horsell Graphic Industries, Ltd. recently signed an OEM Agreement whereby Horsell expects to begin marketing activities for a Presstek based computer-to-plate system by mid year. Horsell has also agreed to market Presstek's thermal ablation plate material under private label.
Fuji Graphic Systems Canada, Inc. and Presstek have signed a distribution Agreement under which Fuji Canada will be the exclusive sales and marketing agent for all Presstek products in Canada. These sales and marketing activities are already underway.
The Class Action Suit remains pending in Federal Court. A hearing on Motions to Dismiss filed by Presstek and others was conducted last summer, but the Court has yet to rule. The plaintiffs will seek to amend their suit to incorporate allegations from the recent SEC settlement. We have the opportunity to oppose this effort in court papers. The findings of the SEC ''are not binding on any other person or entity in these or any other proceedings'' and Presstek is free to
assert its ''legal positions in litigation in which the Commission is not a party.'' The Company will continue to vigorously oppose each and every allegation in the suit.
Our new thermal plate production facility and the installation of our proprietary vacuum coating system built by our subsidiary, Delta V Technologies (formerly known as Catalina Coatings, Inc.), are rapidly coming to completion. Initial test runs have already been made on part of the system. Our current expectation is that we will be producing prototype materials by the end of this quarter and that the system will be on-line by mid-year.
The Company continues to expand and grow its intellectual property base with more than 50 patents in place. The Company has over 20 new patents pending which could also result in the issuance of additional patents. We believe the addition of Heath's intellectual property adds real value to this important corporate asset. The Company is also engaged in ongoing discussions with other suppliers to the printing and publishing business who wish to use Presstek's technology to their advantage, although there can be no assurance that they will lead to contractual arrangements. The Company continues to seek potential partners that will become involved in the use of Presstek's direct imaging and related thermal plate technology in an ongoing manner.
We hope that this shareholder update addresses some, if not all, of the questions you may have had regarding the current and future direction of Presstek. We believe that our position as a leader in thermal direct imaging technology for the printing and publishing market bodes well for the future and we intend to continue our aggressive pursuit of existing and new opportunities. We view 1998 as a 'transition' year for Presstek, and during which we will continue our equipment, manufacturing and development work with the goal of further strengthening our promising and growing consumable printing plate business. We are making substantial investments today in our planned next generation laser imaging systems, new ablation printing plates, and, of course, our new plate manufacturing facilities to help achieve our goal of obtaining maximum industry use of our proprietary
printing plates and technologies in the future. At the same time, the industry we serve moves cautiously. Expectations for the future must be tempered with the reality of the market's desire and willingness to change, as well as the unpredictability of many complex variables which face our new and established commercial relationships. It is not an easy course to navigate, but we believe we are in a position to maximize the opportunities that lie ahead.
Thank you for your continued support.
The Presstek Management Team
The statements which are not historical facts contained in this letter are forward looking statements that involve a number of
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of
the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance of achievements expressed or implied by such
forward looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the risks of uncertainty of patent protection, the impact
of supply and manufacturing constraints or difficulties, possible technological obsolescence, uncertainties relating to customer
plans and commitments, the ability of the Company to continue to market its consumables and other products through the
Company and its strategic alliances, the ability to successfully develop and market new products, the highly competitive
environment in which the Company operates and potential entry of new competitors into the Company's markets, uncertainties
relating to economic conditions in the markets in which the Company operates, the ability to hire and retain key personnel, the
ability to obtain additional capital if required, and other risks detailed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission
filings
SOURCE: Presstek, Inc. |
