Tuesday December 1, 9:02 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Berkeley Systems Celebrates First
Anniversary of Acrophobia On Bezerk
Players Put Their Creativity on the Line More
Than 20 Million Times in the First Year
BERKELEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 1, 1998--The first anniversary of Acrophobia, the online game that
has spawned several marriages, dozens of player conventions, and hundreds of fan web sites was celebrated today
by Berkeley Systems, Inc., a Sierra company. Launched a year ago on Bezerk (www.bezerk.com), Acrophobia has
won multiple awards including Best Online Game from FamilyPC, GameSpot's Best Online Only Game and
Yahoo!'s Pick of the Week twice. Acrophobia is part of the Bezerk line-up that includes YOU DON'T KNOW
JACK® the netshow, YOU DON'T KNOW JACK Sports the netshow and the currently Open Pilot What's the Big
Idea?
''I'm continually amazed at the extent to which people have embraced Acrophobia,'' said Anthony Shubert, creator
of Acrophobia. ''This game is only as good as its players and we have been blessed with a smart, funny and loyal
bunch. I'm convinced Acrophobia has one of best communities anywhere on the web today.''
Acrophobia pits players' creative energies against the clock and other players in true multiplayer gaming fashion. Up
to 14 people meet in a game room where they must come up with witty, creative phrases based on the group of three
to seven letters and the category displayed on the screen. Players have only seconds to enter a phrase matching both
the letters and category. There are hundreds of categories, ranging from sports to poetry and food to current events.
Gamers vote on their favorite phrases and points are awarded for speed and humor. Acrophobia also offers an
innovative chat feature that allows players to converse during the game. Due to popular demand, Berkeley Systems
has added special game rooms where teams, or ''Acro Clans'', compete in fiercely competitive team matches.
More than 20 million game sessions of Acrophobia have been played since the game first launched, forty-three
percent of which have been played by women. This is an exceptionally high percentage for an online game.
Acrophobia is simple to start playing, requires only a small time commitment from the player, and lends itself
perfectly to player interaction. Chat conversations are often initially sparked by player's acronyms and then quickly
expand from there. Some Acro enthusiasts play in a designated game room at the same set time with the same people
on a daily or weekly basis. There are literally hundreds of fan web sites dedicated to the game, some of them
dedicated to specific game rooms. Links to some of these sites and free graphics to use in their creation can be found
in the Acro Lounge.
Some players have had their lives changed by the other people they have met playing the game. Many have met their
fellow players in person at Acrophobia conventions and a few have even met their mates. ''In August I flew to
Texas from New York and met Admiral27 along with seven other Acrodome Regulars. Every single one of these
people will be my life-long friend. Admiral27 and I hit it off from the second we met and two months later he asked
me to marry him in open chat in the Acrodome. It seemed only fitting,'' said Acrophobia enthusiast Denise D.
Acrophobia fan Joe Clune added, ''As leader of an Acro clan, I care about my teammates. A couple of us met in
New Orleans for the weekend just before Hurricane Georges hit. When it became apparent New Orleans was going
to be evacuated, I invited my friends to stay at my home a few hours from the Big Easy. Acro got us together, and it
helped to provide them a place to stay while running from the wrath of Georges.''
This month Berkeley Systems is launching a fourth original game on Bezerk called What's the Big Idea?, the new
online multiplayer game where great minds think alike. What's the Big Idea? questions are fun, thought provoking,
and have no right or wrong answers. The better a player predicts how the other players will answer the faster he or
she can excel at the game. What's the Big Idea? is currently Open Pilot and can be played by the public during this
final stage of testing.
Berkeley Systems, Inc., a division of Sierra, develops and markets multimedia entertainment software, such as After
Dark® and YOU DON'T KNOW JACK. Berkeley Systems' products fall under the Sierra Attractions brand of high
quality products for the largest segment of PC gaming, the casual entertainment user. Sierra Attractions brings
together selected award-winning development teams from Sierra, Berkeley Systems and Dynamix.
Sierra, Inc. is one of the original developers and largest worldwide publishers of interactive entertainment and
productivity software. Sierra is comprised of six brands, Sierra Attractions, Sierra FX, Sierra Home, Sierra Sports,
Sierra Studios, and Dynamix, a Sierra Company. Sierra is part of Cendant Software, one of the largest PC
consumer software groups in the world, and a leader in entertainment, productivity and educational software.
Cendant Software is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cendant Corporation [NYSE:CD - news], one of the world's
foremost providers of consumer and business services.
Contact:
Berkeley Systems, Inc.
Cassie Roduner, 510/540-5535 ext. 772
pr@berksys.com
berkeleysystems.com
Monday November 30, 7:06 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Merrill Corporation
Merrill Corporation Reports Third
Quarter Results
ST. PAUL, Minn., Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Merrill Corporation (Nasdaq: MRLL - news) today announced
operating results for its third fiscal quarter and nine-month period ended October 31, 1998. Revenue for the third
quarter was $119,759,000, an increase of 7 percent over revenue of $112,091,000 for the third quarter a year ago.
Net income for the quarter increased 14 percent to $6,488,000, compared to net income of $5,707,000 for the third
quarter last year. Diluted earnings per share improved 15 percent to 38 cents per share, compared to 33 cents per
share for the third quarter of fiscal 1998.
Revenue for the nine months was $391,731,000, an increase of 16 percent over revenue of $337,551,000 for the
same period a year ago. Net income for the nine months rose 17 percent to $23,206,000, compared to net income of
$19,773,000 last year. Diluted earnings per share gained 14 percent to $1.35 cents per share, compared to $1.18
cents per share for the same period of the previous year.
Merrill Corporation President and CEO John Castro said, ''We are pleased to report record operating results for both
the third quarter and the nine-month period ended October 31, 1998; however, as we stated in our November 11
news release, the volatility in financial markets resulted in a significant reduction in the financial transaction activity,
including debt and equity financings as well as mergers and acquisitions.
''Our financial transactions revenue experienced a decline of 4 percent in the third quarter, compared to the prior
year's third quarter; however, for the first nine months of fiscal 1999 we are still ahead of the prior year by 19
percent. During the third quarter, we implemented a number of steps aimed at controlling costs including elimination
of overtime, voluntary vacations, staffing realignments, and reduction of travel expenses. In addition, we evaluated
and adjusted our accounts receivable and inventory reserves to reflect the additional risk we felt inherent with this
market volatility and have aligned our incentive compensation accruals to reflect our revised expectations for the full
fiscal year.
''Corporate revenue increased 1 percent in the third quarter compared to the same period last year. Year-to-date
corporate revenue reflects a 10 percent increase over the prior year. Investment Company Services (ICS) sector
revenue for the quarter continued its strong growth primarily driven by revenue from existing customers and the
addition of five major new clients this year. In our Investment Company Services business, we offered a new
product line called Electronic Distribution Services. These advanced software tools transfer prospectus content and
marketing documents to electronic formats. We are currently working with several of our major ICS clients, and we
expect to close our initial contracts for this new product by year-end. We also experienced continued success in
penetrating the ICS market for Merrill TextManager™ software, adding three new customers in the third quarter.
This collaborative authoring software enables an investment company to significantly reduce the time and cost of
preparing disclosure documents.
''Document Management Services (DMS) sector revenue increased 33 percent for the third quarter of fiscal 1999
compared to the same period in fiscal 1998. Leading the growth was a 45 percent increase in our Reprographics
business for the quarter. The second quarter acquisition of Executech, a leading provider of image based electronic
knowledge management and full-text retrieval systems, contributed half of this Reprographics growth. Document
Service Center business grew 19 percent for the quarter. Same site revenue growth was 11 percent for the quarter
and 12 percent year-to-date. For the first nine months, DMS is up 22 percent from last year. More importantly, the
DMS business has turned the corner to profitability.
''The commercial and other revenue category experienced growth of 23 percent when compared to the same period a
year ago. The Managed Communications Programs sector was the primary contributor to this growth, led by
increased activity with Cendant Corporation [NYSE:CD - news] under our preferred vendor agreements. The
election-year ballot production also contributed to our third quarter business and growth in this category.
''Gross profit margins for the third quarter were 32.6 percent, down from last year's 35.1 percent margin. The
weakening financial transaction market and the resulting lower production activity contributed to this decreased
margin.
''We continue to expect that the market weakness in late summer and early fall will impact our results in the fourth
quarter'', continued Castro. ''However, we are confident that our diversification efforts remain the correct long-term
strategy to increase shareholder value.''
Forward-looking statements of future performance like those given above are, of course, subject to factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested here. Such forward-looking statements involve known
and unknown risks, uncertainties or achievements of the Company. These risks and uncertainties include, but are
not limited to, the effect of economic and financial market conditions, government public reporting regulations,
paper cost and the integration and performance of recent acquisitions.
Merrill Corporation is a diversified document and information management company providing paper and electronic
document services consisting of creative design, typesetting, printing, production, distribution, and data
management services to financial, legal, investment company, real estate, and corporate clients worldwide.
Merrill Corporation Reports Third Quarter Results
Merrill Corporation
(Nasdaq: MRLL - news)
Financial Summary
(in thousands, except share and per share data)
Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended
October 31, October 31,
1998 1997 1998 1997
Revenue $119,759 $112,091 $391,731 $337,551
Cost of revenue 80,659 72,717 250,299 213,526
Gross profit 39,100 39,374 141,432 124,025
Selling, general and
administrative
expenses 26,403 28,481 97,095 85,755
Other expense, net 1,006 802 2,524 2,834
Income before provision
for income taxes 11,691 10,091 41,813 35,436
Provision for
income taxes 5,203 4,384 18,607 15,663
Net income $6,488 $5,707 $23,206 $19,773
Net income per share:
Basic $.40 $.35 $1.42 $1.23
Diluted $.38 $.33 $1.35 $1.18
Weighted average number
of shares outstanding
Basic 16,264,995 16,258,722 16,336,743 16,068,965
Diluted 16,982,401 17,208,345 17,160,710 16,793,500
SOURCE: Merrill Corporation
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