NEWS: Ciprico Reports Record Sales for Fiscal 1998 Second Quarter
Second Stock Buyback Program Announced
MINNEAPOLIS, April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Ciprico Inc. (Nasdaq: CPCI - news), a leading provider of RAID disk array storage solutions, today announced results for the second quarter and six month periods ended March 31, 1998. Sales for the fiscal second quarter reached a record high, increasing by 17% to $10.6 million, compared to $9.0 million for the same period last year. Net earnings for the second quarter increased 5% to $1.1 million, or 21 cents per share compared to $1,064,000 or 20 cents per share for the same prior year period.
For the six months ended March 31, 1998, sales were up slightly to $17.8 million compared to $17.6 million for the same period last year. Net earnings for this year's six month period were down, totaling $1.6 million or 31 cents per share compared to $2.2 million or 41 cents per share for the same period last year. The decreased earnings were the result of softness in sales for the Company's first quarter of fiscal 1998.
The company continues to maintain a strong balance sheet with cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities totaling $36.4 million. During the second quarter, the Company completed its $3.0 million stock buyback program.
''Our record revenues are indicative of the progress at Ciprico and the positive results from our SGI partnership,'' said Robert H. Kill, Ciprico President and CEO. ''Though the entertainment market was soft this quarter, we are expanding our market share, particularly in the satellite/telemetry and oil/gas markets. We have been increasing our sales staff, stepping up our research and development activities and strengthening our infrastructure to build for continued growth in our markets.''
Stock Buyback Program
Ciprico also announced today that its Board of Directors has authorized a second stock buyback program for the repurchase of shares of its Common Stock from time to time in open market and privately negotiated transactions in an aggregate amount of up to $3.0 million.
''We at Ciprico believe in our future business opportunities.'' said Mr. Kill. ''We have been successful with our target markets, our partnering opportunities and our product offerings and still see our Company as an excellent investment.''
Safe Harbor
Certain statements in this news release are forward looking and should be read in conjunction with cautionary statements in the Company's SEC filings, reports to shareholders and other news releases. The Company's quarterly and annual operating results are affected by a wide variety of factors, including fluctuating backlog levels, competitive market conditions, the ability or inability to ship a large percentage of orders during the last month or weeks of the quarter, and component cost and availability. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements.
Ciprico Inc., an ISO 9000 certified company, designs, manufactures, markets and services disk arrays for the high-performance imaging and digital media markets. The company's products are sold worldwide to technical, scientific and creative professionals who require high performance, capacity and fault tolerance from their storage. Additional information about Ciprico can be obtained through the Internet on ciprico.com.
CIPRICO INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF EARNINGS
(Unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands except
per share amounts)
Three Months Ended Six Months Ended
March 31 March 31
1998 1997 1998 1997
NET SALES $10,564 $9,003 $17,824 $17,599
Cost of sales 5,318 4,919 9,002 9,374
GROSS PROFIT 5,246 4,084 8,822 8,225
Research and development expenses 1,029 817 1,908 1,543
Sales and marketing expenses 2,172 1,470 3,960 3,063
General and administrative expenses 849 663 1,480 1,292
EARNINGS FROM OPERATIONS 1,196 1,134 1,474 2,327
Other income, primarily interest 493 432 1,010 1,026
EARNINGS BEFORE INCOME TAXES 1,689 1,566 2,483 3,353
Income tax expense 574 502 844 1,151
NET EARNINGS $1,115 $1,064 $1,640 $2,202
NET EARNINGS PER
COMMON SHARE - BASIC $.22 $.21 $.32 $.44
NET EARNINGS PER
COMMON SHARE - DILUTED $.21 $.20 $.31 $.41
Shares used to calculate net earnings per common share:
Basic 5,061 5,040 5,099 5,029
Diluted 5,283 5,353 5,333 5,374
CIPRICO INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(Unaudited)
(In thousands)
March 31, September 30,
1998 1997
ASSETS
CURRENT:
Cash and cash equivalents $9,617 $4,512
Marketable securities 19,315 24,807
Accounts receivable, less allowance 6,736 5,152
Inventories 3,083 4,354
Deferred income taxes 788 788
Other current assets 489 809
Total current assets 40,028 40,422
Property and equipment, net 4,129 3,948
Marketable securities 7,500 7,483
Other assets 236 252
Total assets $51,893 $52,105
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
CURRENT:
Accounts payable $2,639 $2,285
Accrued expenses 1,698 1,242
Deferred revenue 607 520
Total current liabilities 4,944 4,047
SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY:
Capital stock 50 51
Additional paid-in capital 36,568 39,316
Retained earnings 10,331 8,691
Total shareholders' equity 46,949 48,058
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity $51,893 $52,105
SOURCE: Ciprico Inc. |
