- Record Revenue with Increase of 58% to $8.1 Million -
MARIETTA, Ga., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Healthdyne Information Enterprises,Inc (Nasdaq: HDIE) today reported results for the fiscal fourth quarter andyear ended December 31, 1998. For the quarter, revenue increased 58% to a record $8.1 million, comparedwith $5.1 million in the same period last year. Net earnings for the quarter
increased to $1.2 million, or $0.05 per share, compared with net earnings of $85,000, or $0.00 per share, in the prior year's period, excluding 1997 acquisition and other non-recurring charges. Including the non-recurring charges of $6.4 million, HIE reported a fourth quarter 1997 net loss of $6.3 million, or $0.27 per share.
Software license revenue in the quarter was $4.2 million, a 69% year-over- year increase. Service revenue increased 48% to $3.9 million. For the full year, revenue increased 50% to a record $27.2 million, compared with $18.1 million in 1997. Net earnings were $2.5 million, or $0.10 per share, excluding one-time merger-related charges of $993,000 in the second quarter. This compares with a net loss of $2.2 million, or $0.10 per share, in the prior year, excluding the 1997 non-recurring charges. Including the 1998 merger-related charges and the 1997 non-recurring charges, net earnings were $1.5 million, or $0.06 per share compared to a net loss of $8.6 million, or $0.38 per share for the years 1998 and 1997 respectively. Gross margins expanded to 71% compared to 61% for the prior year. During the fourth quarter HIE sold its Integration Service Group (ISG) to Superior Consultant Holdings Corporation in a cash transaction valued at $2.2 million. The sale was a strategic move to strengthen HIE's focus on the company's core business, enterprise application integration (EAI) tools and services. Revenue backlog was $8.7 million as of December 31, 1998, compared to $8.3 million at September 30, 1998 and $7.8 million at June 30, 1998, excluding ISG backlog. Throughout the fourth quarter, HIE continued to expand further into the banking and finance market with two product technology certifications from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (S.W.I.F.T.): (1)
SWIFTReady Gold accreditation; and (2) Securities Reformatter Program (SRP) selection.Subsequent to the year-end, HIE announced a co-marketing agreement with IBM (NYSE: IBM). As part of the agreement, HIE is marketing IBM's MQSeries with the HIE Message Broker as IBM's recommended middleware messaging solution specifically targeted to the utilities, transportation and government
industries. Robert Murrie, president and chief executive officer, said, "Sharply higher year-end results were driven by our strategy to aggressively pursue distributor agreements within healthcare and other commercial markets. The IBM and HBOC partnerships exemplify the type of agreements we are actively pursuing."
Mr. Murrie concluded, "We are pleased with both our fourth quarter and
year-end results. For the year, we were successful in executing our strategy resulting in strong software and services revenue growth. Our improved gross margins combined with our revenue growth resulted in net earnings for the quarter and for the year. During the quarter, HIE's balance sheet was improved as DSOs were reduced and our cash position was increased as a result of aggressive collection efforts and the ISG transaction. HIE is poised for growth in the EAI market."
HIE management will discuss earnings results at 10:00 a.m. eastern
standard time today during a conference call. Contact Lauren Felice at 212-850-5600 for information on the conference call.
About HIE
HIE helps enterprises rapidly integrate their existing and new
applications, using the Company's market leading software tools and strategic and tactical integration services. The Company's tools are used in more than 1,200 sites worldwide, including those in the healthcare, financial services and banking industries. HIE is headquartered in Marietta, Georgia, with offices in Dallas, Columbus, New York, London, England and Essen, Germany. For more information visit HIE's web site at hie.com. |
