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BOGN looks to be a spinnoff play, with them holding 100% ownership in Digitronic, Europe's EFAX basically, which provides E-mail, Fax, and Voice mail for corporations and ISP's including AOL. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Bogen Communications International Reports Record 1998 Operating Profit; Net Income Increases 58% Before Non-cash One-time Charges BusinessWire, Thursday, March 18, 1999 at 08:52 RAMSEY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 18, 1999--Bogen Communications International, Inc. (NASDAQ:BOGN) today announced results for its fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 1998. Fourth quarter net sales rose slightly to $12,717,000 from $12,644,000 in the fourth quarter of 1997, while net income available to common shareholders (before a non-cash, one-time acquisition-related charge of $980,000) increased to $1,202,000, or $.17 per diluted share. Including the acquisition-related charge, net income available to common shareholders for the 1998 fourth quarter was $222,000, or $.03 per diluted share as compared to $613,000, or $.13 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of last year. 1998 net sales increased 5% to $52,103,000 from 1997 net sales of $49,779,000, while net income (before non-cash, one-time acquisition-related charges and preferred dividends aggregating $4,785,000) increased 58% to $4,227,000 from $2,665,000 in 1997. Including these charges, the 1998 net loss was $558,000, or $.12 per diluted share of common stock versus net income of $2,487,000, or $.46 per diluted share of common stock in 1997. Michael P. Fleischer, Bogen's President, commented, "The groundwork laid throughout 1998 produced a far more profitable business than when new management arrived just over a year ago. Looking past the non-cash charges, we see major improvements in profitability. Moreover, the favorable performance trends of earlier quarters continued into our final quarter. Of special note, comparing the final quarter of 1998 to 1997 (excluding one-time charges): -- Gross margin rose to 47.7% from 47.3%, -- Our operating margin also grew to 11.8% of sales from 10.3%; and -- Pretax margin was 10.6% of sales, up from 8.3%." "In addition to important gains in operating profits," Jonathan Guss, Bogen's CEO said, "many other less visible accomplishments have positioned Bogen for further profitable growth in 1999 and beyond. These include: -- Strengthening our balance sheet by reducing long-term debt and converting preferred stock into common stock; -- Putting in place $29 million of bank facilities to support our acquisition strategy; -- Acquiring the remaining 33% interest in Speech Design, our most profitable and fastest growing business; -- Acquiring Digitronic, giving Speech Design the tools to become a major participant in the emerging Unified Messaging/Internet Communications business in Europe; and, -- Entering a dynamic phase in new product development, with six to eight new products scheduled for launch in 1999." Discussing the Company's first new product of the year, Mr. Fleischer stated, "In January, we successfully launched the Easy Install Speaker, first in a family of new products that significantly reduces design and installation time. With this and other members of the product family, telecom equipment installers, faced with rising labor costs and scarcity of trained installation personnel, will be able to enhance their productivity, efficiency and profitability. Our customers have given us early indications that the entire product family will be a measurable success for Bogen. For this and other reasons related to investments we have made in the core businesses, 1999 is already off to a strong start." Messrs. Fleischer and Guss concluded by saying, "The accomplishments of 1998, while impressive and satisfying, provide a solid foundation for even better performance in 1999." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Synopsis of Bogen Communications International, Inc. Presentation at Southeast Research Partners Seventh Annual Institutional Investors Conference PR Newswire, Wednesday, November 18, 1998 at 12:08 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Following is a synopsis of the presentation made today by Bogen Communications International, Inc. at the Southeast Research Partners Seventh Annual Institutional Investors Conference at the Hyatt Regency Pier 66, Fort Lauderdale. Jonathan Guss, CEO and Michael Fleischer, President of Bogen Communications International, Inc., (NASDAQ:BOGN) presented today at the Southeast Research Partners Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Bogen, which reported a 71.1% increase in third quarter net income on a 12.7% sales gain, develops, manufactures, and is a leading marketer of telecommunications peripherals and commercial sound equipment. Bogen's product mix includes speakers, amplifiers, intercom equipment, office/industrial paging system, voice mail systems, music-on-hold which are sold to commercial, industrial, professional and institutional customers worldwide. In addition to reviewing the improving financial results and balance sheet since joining Bogen one year ago, Messrs. Guss and Fleischer addressed the opportunities Bogen had to grow far more rapidly while continuing to improve gross and net margins. Internal growth is being sought on a number of fronts including expanding field service coverage. "Even though we are a dominant player in each of the markets we address, we can do a great deal more by merely adding sales personnel, giving them smaller territories, and revising their sales incentives to encourage deeper market penetration," stated Mr. Fleischer. "We are also planning on launching a number of important new products in 1999 which should spur sales. In Europe, where we are the number one voice mail company, we are exploiting the still immature, 20%-plus annual growth of the voice mail market where we are the primary or sole suppliers to leading companies such as Siemens, Bosch, Alcatel to name a few. At the same time, we believe that there is room for further gross margin expansion, even though our gross margin rose to 51% in the third quarter. We are reducing cost of sales by focusing on component sourcing and product design." Moving on to the subject of acquisitions, Mr. Guss pointed out that senior management is devoting nearly 50% of its time to identifying and negotiating transactions. "We are looking for acquisitions that are either competitors or are in adjacent markets and that would be immediately accretive to earnings per share." Mr. Guss noted that turnarounds might be considered under certain circumstances. "In the commercial sound arena, the market is dominated by scores of small family owned businesses. In Europe, we'd be looking for an acquisition that would add to our technology base. While we had focused on private companies, the drop in the equity markets has brought to light a number of public company candidates. We also have access to $29 million in acquisition capital from our bankers in the U.S. and Europe. In summary, the Bogen executives pointed to a number of reasons for considering an investment in Bogen, including large insider holdings and Bogen's leading position in attractive niches. It is the low cost producer, has vast opportunities and capital in place to make suitable acquisitions, and its stock is selling at slightly over 7 times EBITDA. SOURCE Bogen Communications International, Inc. 11/18/98 CONTACT: Linda Latman, Bogen's IR Counsel, The Equity Group Inc., 212-836-9609/ | ||||||||||||
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