Jenna,
Hopefully you can keep finding us little "gems" like this even in a bad market. Thanks for the heads up. What a totally upbeat report !
4Front Technologies, Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Year-End Results
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 31, 1998--4Front Technologies, Inc. (4Front) (Nasdaq NM: FFTI - news) today announced its results for the fourth quarter and year ended January 31, 1998.
For the fourth quarter ended January 31, 1998, revenues for
4Front increased 37% to $25,263,000 versus $18,498,000 reported for
the comparable year-ago quarter. Net income for the most recent
quarter increased 52% to $939,000, or $0.12 per share fully-diluted
(based on 8,061,094 shares), versus net income, excluding write-downs,
of $618,000, or $0.09 per share fully-diluted (based on 6,752,324
shares), for the comparable year-ago quarter. At January 31, 1998, and
1997, 4Front had 7,051,317 and 6,514,747 shares of Common Stock issued
and outstanding, respectively.
For the year ended January 31, 1998, revenues for 4Front
increased 59% to $84,145,000 versus $53,015,000 for the year ended
January 31, 1997. Net income for the most recent year was $3,069,000,
or $0.43 per share fully-diluted (based on 7,129,307 shares), versus
net income, excluding write-downs, of $1,588,000, or $0.28 per share
fully-diluted (based on 5,682,716 shares) for the year ended January
31, 1997.
Anil Doshi, Chairman and Chief Executive of 4Front, said "The
fourth quarter was yet another record quarter in terms of revenues and
profits for 4Front. More importantly, the fourth quarter capped-off a
year in which 4Front hit or exceeded all of its stated targets for
revenue, profit and margin growth. Specifically, we are now operating
at $100 million revenue run rate, service revenue as a percentage of
4Front's total sales is running over 60 percent, well ahead of the 50
percent year end target, and our EBITDA margin, which was 8.6% in the
fourth quarter, increased two percentage points over the year,
reflecting the growth of higher margin service revenue during the
year. Undoubtedly, 4Front is benefiting from the increased critical
mass it attained during the year. We now handle 15 service contracts
each worth over $1 million annually and are continuing to bid for many
contracts of similar or greater size."
Mr. Doshi continued, "4Front has clearly established itself as a
leading UK independent IT services provider. The UK market for IT
services remains buoyant and opportunities for business growth are
significant. However, with its recent European acquisitions, 4Front is
taking further steps towards its aim to be a leading Pan-European
independent IT services provider. While revenues from our French and
Belgian operations currently only account for approximately 6 percent
of overall revenues, we expect non-UK European revenues to grow
steadily this year as a proportion of overall revenues. We believe
that market conditions on the Continent are ripe for the deployment of
the business strategy so successfully implemented to date by 4Front in
the UK. 4Front has grown to become the fourth largest independent
hardware maintenance company in the UK and we have similar growth
aspirations for this and other elements of our business in the other
main Western European countries."
Mark Ellis, President of 4Front, said, "The refocusing of
4Fronts activities into four divisions, put into effect in 1997, has
been a great success. In particular, we are seeing excellent progress
in cross-marketing between the four divisions, which now are working
more effectively together to generate significant new opportunities
for each other. Within the divisions themselves, 4Front Services
witnessed the most dynamic internal growth during the year. Many of
the new large-scale contracts 4Front signed have been higher margin
hardware maintenance contracts. Growth in the help-desk area has been
very strong with a number of important corporate and retail contracts
signed, such as those most recently with Argos, the UK's largest
catalog retailer, and Tower Hamlets, our first significant help-desk
contract with a government authority. With industry experts estimating
that the European help-desk business will grow six-fold between 1996
and the Year 2000, we are expecting continued strong growth in our
help-desk business. Elsewhere, 4Front Networks has grown steadily and
is developing its own level of critical mass. The European network
services market is developing rapidly, boosted by the confusion
surrounding the Year 2000 problem and the imminent introduction of the
new single European currency, the Euro. We believe 4Front Networks is
well positioned to take advantage of the growing network opportunities
both in the UK and on the European Continent."
Mr. Ellis continued, "Most of 4Front's efforts recently have been
concentrated on developing its service and network service operations.
However, 4Front Products has performed very well during the year,
achieving significant margin improvement in a very competitive
environment and successfully building its customized PC business.
Meanwhile, 4Front Software is now an area of increased focus and we
are actively searching for innovative new products to sell through
this division. Our agreement with MaxSol, announced last week,
reflects this increased focus on software."
4Front Technologies, Inc., is a leading independent computer
services and networking company that delivers a broad range of
specialized computer services primarily to blue chip corporations and
government authorities. 4Fronts services include hardware maintenance,
help desk support, network services, specialized software solutions
and the supply of high-end storage systems. Customers of 4Front
include British Petroleum, British Telecom, Dupont, Reuters, Pfizer,
NatWest Capital Markets, JP Morgan and the UK Ministry of Defense.
4Fronts website may be found at www.4fti.com.
Reminder:
4Front will conduct a conference call to discuss the contents of
this announcement Wednesday, April 1st, at 10:00 a.m. EST. To
participate in the conference call, please dial 719/457-2617 a few
minutes before 10:00 a.m. EST. |
