COLUMBIA CAPITAL CORP. REPORTS 4TH QUARTER AND YEAR-END EARNINGS
3/25/99 17:9
- Revenue Up 308% -
- Y2K Preparation Successfully Underway -
ABILENE, Texas, March 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Columbia Capital Corp.
(OTC Bulletin Board: CLCK), a multi-faceted information and transaction
processing service organization, today reported net income for the year ended
December 31, 1998 totaled $1,364,675, or $0.11 per share, including an
extraordinary charge of $660,000 or $0.05 per share, compared with a net loss
of $424,368, or $0.03 per share, for 1997. Total operating revenue for 1998
increased approximately 308% to $12,976,805 from $3,176,646 for 1997.
For the fourth quarter ended December 31, 1998, the Company reported a net
loss of $408,509 or $0.03 per share, including an extraordinary charge of
$660,000 or $0.05 per share, compared with net income of $119,952 or $0.01 per
share, for the same period in 1997. Total operating revenue for the quarter
increased approximately 78% to $3,451,972 from $1,939,510 for the fourth
quarter of 1997.
For the year ended December 31, 1998 the Company's total assets increased
approximately 53% to $4,311,299 from $2,823,521 at December 31, 1997, the
Company's total liabilities decreased approximately 12% to $1,424,883 from
$1,611,530 at December 31, 1997 and Shareholders net equity increased
approximately 138% to $2,886,416 from $1,211,991 at December 31, 1997.
"1998 was a record year for Columbia Capital in terms of revenue and
earnings, despite an extraordinary charge to earnings of $660,000 taken in the
fourth quarter," said Ken Klotz, President of Columbia Capital. "In terms of
preparation for Y2K, I'm very proud of what we have accomplished. As of
December 31, 1998, we had completed an extensive review and testing of our
computer operations, including hardware and software applications, and we
believe that all of Columbia Capital's critical operating systems are ready
for the Year 2000. We intend to capitalize on our successful Y2K preparation
with an extensive marketing plan. As Y2K draws near, we will be in a position
to benefit from additional business related to Y2K within our industry," Klotz
concluded.
On December 24, 1998, RRI Credit Corporation ("RRICC"), which is not
affiliated with the Company, was awarded the contract to purchase the accounts
of BestBank from the FDIC (the "BestBank Credit Card Portfolio"). The
purchase and sale agreement called for a $1,000,000 non-refundable deposit to
be paid by RRICC. The Company entered into an initial processing agreement
with RRICC, which was conditional on closing of the purchase and sale
agreement. In consideration for entering into a processing agreement with
RRICC to process the accounts to be acquired from the FDIC, the Company lent
RRICC $1,000,000. The loan was non-recourse to RRICC unless the deposit was
to be returned by the FDIC. The Board of Directors of the Company determined
that it was in the best interests of the Company to lend this money to RRICC
in order to assist RRICC in being awarded the bid, and thus the Company would
be able to continue to receive revenue from processing the accounts under the
processing agreement that would otherwise be lost if the FDIC sold the
BestBank Credit Card Portfolio to another bidder or simply liquidated the
BestBank Credit Card Portfolio. For various reasons, RRICC was unable to meet
certain conditions to close the purchase. The inability of RRICC to close the
purchase and sale agreement resulted in the loss of the $1,000,000
non-refundable deposit. Such a loss resulted in the Company's charging-off of
the note receivable from RRICC and had a material adverse effect on the
Company's 1998 fourth quarter and year-end results of operations. However,
because of the actions of the FDIC in liquidating the BestBank Credit Card
Portfolio, the Company is aware of the fact that in order to sustain the
Company's operations, the establishment of new revenue streams must be the
Company's number one priority. During 1998, the revenue derived by the
Company from processing the accounts was approximately $10,705,415, which
constituted approximately 83% of the Company's total gross revenue.
Currently, the Company is very active on the new business front, working with
several different entities on potential new processing contracts for the
Company. The Company filed a report on form 8-K with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on March 15, 1999, which addressed these
issues in greater detail. Copies of the form 8-K and other reports filed by
the Company with the SEC may be accessed electronically at the SEC's site on
the World Wide Web, located at sec.gov.
Columbia Capital Corp. operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, First
Independent Computers, Inc. The Company is a multi-faceted information and
transaction processing service organization. The services provided by the
Company include credit and debit card processing and servicing, transaction
processing for the health care industry, bank and financial services
processing and document management and distribution services. The Company
concentrates on a niche market, consisting of small to medium-sized financial
institutions, retailers and health care providers that have not achieved the
economies of scale to operate their own in-house programs and systems.
This release contains forward-looking statements regarding future
revenues, marketing of services, management's plans and objectives for future
operations, and other matters. These statements, in addition to statements
made in conjunction with the words "anticipate," "expect," "believe,"
"intend," "seek," "schedule," "estimate" and similar expressions, are
forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties.
Such statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject
to a number of factors and uncertainties that would cause actual results to
differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.
These statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but
not limited to, the impact of competitive products and pricing, product demand
and market acceptance, new product development, availability of raw materials,
fluctuations in operating results, the cyclical nature of the semiconductor
and computer hard disk industries, the uncertainties concerning the Asian
markets and currencies and other risks detailed from time to time in the
Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SOURCE Columbia Capital Corp.
-0- 03/25/99
/CONTACT: Charles LaMontagne, Chief Financial Officer of Columbia Capital
Corp., 915-674-3110, or clamontagne@columbiacapital.net; or Pete Holmberg,
Director of The MWW Group, 201-964-2441, or pholmberg@mww.com, for Columbia
Capital Corp./
(CLCK)
CO: Columbia Capital Corp.; First Independent Computers, Inc.
ST: Texas
IN: FIN
SU: ERN |
