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| Fast Search & Transfer Announces Second Quarter and Half Year 2003 Results
OSLO, Norway--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 5, 2003-- Q2 Revenues of $9.5 million contribute to Half Year New Business BizVantage – A Net clipping service that learns what you need: for business, investment or technology. Growth of 78%; At $2.4 Million, Achieves Positive Adjusted EBITDA for
7th consecutive quarter
Fast Search & Transfer (TM) (FAST(TM)), the leading developer of enterprise search and real-time alerting technologies, today announced financial results for the second quarter and half year ended June 30, 2003. Second Quarter and Half Year 2003 Highlights -- Q2 2003 revenues reached $9.5 million, achieving positive Adjusted EBITDA of $2.4 million -- Revenues grew 10% for the half year, as new business
grew 78% Year on Year
-- Deferred revenues in Q2 2003 were 10% of total
revenues compared with 45% for same period last year
signifying the success of FAST Data Search product
sales
-- Earned positive adjusted EBITDA for the 7 th
consecutive quarter
-- Operating results and cash flow positive for the 3rd
straight quarter
-- Closed Web Search deal with Overture Services, Inc. -- Sale of business unit assets yields $70 million in
cash
-- Gain on sale boosts Q2 net income to $62 million
-- Company focuses on extending success in enterprise
search market
-- Acquired AltaVista Enterprise Search Business -- Acquired over 200 AltaVista customers
-- Gained traction in key verticals including Financial
Services, eCommerce and Government
-- Client News: Key wins in verticals including Financial Services, eCommerce and Government -- New enterprise search clients include SBC, HBZ, The
Allegis Group, City of Chicago, National Library of
Norway, ODIN, Norway Police (Okokrim) and the stock
exchanges of Oslo and Copenhagen; expanded
relationships with lighthouse customers such as IBM
Japan, Overture Services and Telenor
-- New global partner relationships launched with Datamat
(Italy), LexisNexis (USA), Ferramentas de Busca
(Brazil) and Mphasis (Japan)
-- Won European IST Award and was listed as a visionary search vendor in Gartner's 2003 Search Magic Quadrant report Q2 and Half Year 2003 Financial Highlights
For the six months
For the three months ended ended
(Amounts in
US$000's) 30-June-03 31-March-03 30-June-02 30-June-03 30-June-02
(unaudited) (unaudited) (unaudited)(unaudited) (unaudited)
ENTERPRISE
REVENUE 9,532 9,489 7,755 19,021 17,246
Net Income 62,060 290 841 62,350 1,190
EBITDA 63,264 1,256 1,519 64,520 2,562
Adjusted
EBITDA(a) 2,401 2,585 2,948 4,986 6,304
(a) EBITDA, excluding share-based compensation, equity in losses of
investee and income (loss) from discontinued operations.
Financial Performance Commenting on the results, Dr. John M. Lervik, chief executive officer of FAST, stated, "FAST continues to win strong praise and market recognition from customer, partners and industry analysts. With half year revenues of $19 million, adjusted EBITDA of $5 million, FAST continues to outperform our key competitors who are experiencing revenue declines up to 30% from the same period last year. These solid results achieved in a challenging market have propelled FAST to a market leadership position." Ali I. Riaz, chief financial officer and chief operating officer at FAST remarked, "We are continuing to strengthen our financial condition and our key financial indicators are all meeting expectations. Our half-year results are especially notable for us as revenues grew 10% and new business grew by 78%. In addition, FAST has over $90 million in the bank, including restricted cash from the Overture deal, and a current ratio of 17:1, which further establishes our liquidity as the best in the industry." Corporate Developments In the first half of 2003, FAST extended its focus on its core business of providing enterprise search solutions to a worldwide customer base. In Q2, FAST closed an agreement to sell its Web Search business to Overture Services for $70 million in cash, as well as performance-based cash incentive payments of up to $30 million over three years. Additionally, FAST completed its acquisition of AltaVista's enterprise search business from Overture, yielding over 200 customers in key sectors such as Financial Services, eCommerce, and Government. In keeping with its strategy to focus on the enterprise search business, FAST spun off a subsidiary, Fast Web Media Ltd. ("FWM"), to Total Sports Online ASA, in which FAST is retaining a 49% ownership interest. "FAST's 2003 performance has been exceptionally strong. With the FAST Web Search and AltaVista deals completed, we are presented with a greater opportunity to deploy our applications within large organizations, meet our goals of attaining a market leadership position in enterprise search, and further expand our innovative technology solutions in the areas of Search Derivative Applications (SDAs) and the FAST Enterprise Search Platform (ESP)," commented Riaz. He added, "In acquiring AltaVista's enterprise search business, we are now in a strong position to further demonstrate our strong and flexible technology and our industry leading customer service to expand our business. As part of our multi-pronged strategy, we plan to continue to take every advantage of our growing network of partners to expand our global reach and increase revenue opportunities for FAST as well as our partners." Innovation In Q2, FAST unveiled its Enterprise Search Platform (ESP), garnering praise from key industry analysts who track and report upon the enterprise search space. With ESP, FAST recognizes that search should lie at the center of all IT architecture and activity for the real-time enterprise, dramatically increasing the ROI companies receive from their existing IT investments and lowering the total cost of ownership (TCO) of data assets. Beyond its core search capabilities, the broad functionality of the ESP platform allows FAST's customers and partners to attack industry-specific problems. Already, leading organizations around the world are looking to use FAST ESP to address money laundering in the financial services market, catch criminals in government law enforcement applications, speed product development in the pharmaceutical industry, and maximize sales in competitive eCommerce environments. Strategic Partnerships In Q2, new and expanded global partner relationships yielded several market opportunities for FAST. "Strategic partnerships are at the heart of FAST's distribution strategy, and we strive to partner with only the strongest technology players and systems integrators. Each quarter, FAST continues to build upon its global partner and reseller network, expanding our market presence and in turn, increasing our global footprint," said Riaz. "Through our new relationships with top-notch partners, including LexisNexis, Ferramentas de Busca (Brazil) and Datamat (Italy), and our continued relations with existing partners such as IBM Japan, Chordiant, TIBCO, BEA Systems, ACIS Consulting (Canada), iPhrase, Kanda and Stratify Solutions (USA), Danet, Picturesafe (Germany), and Mphasis (Asia), FAST is positioning itself to expand its 'revenue growth potential' with unique and outstanding value propositions to regional as well as global leaders." 2003 Business Focus Top technology industry analysts are now viewing enterprise search as a core technology within the enterprise. Given FAST's complete technical and strategic focus on the growing enterprise search space, as well as gaining validation from Gartner's 2003 Search Magic Quadrant report and the European IST award, FAST's business outlook continues to remain strong for the second half of 2003. With its strong financial performance, growing client base and increased global presence, FAST continued its rapid emergence as an enterprise search market leader. The Company continues to be well positioned to deliver upon its strategy of entering new markets with innovative solutions based on its industry leading technology and has targeted key vertical sectors whose business needs and requirements match up to the strengths of FAST Data Search. "FAST is delivering strong financial results and is outperforming the market amidst a very challenging economic climate. Our business is growing, we have sharpened our organization through acquisitions and spin-offs, and we are investing in the future by expanding our innovative enterprise search technology solutions to address a host of unmet needs in the marketplace," added Lervik. About FAST Fast Search & Transfer (FAST) creates the real-time search and filter technology solutions that are behind the scenes at the world's best known companies with the most demanding search problems. FAST's flexible and scalable integrated technology platform enables enterprise customers to elevate their search capabilities to unprecedented levels. FAST closes the gap between information and action, connecting people to the relevant information they seek regardless of medium, in turn driving revenue and reducing total cost of ownership by effectively leveraging IT infrastructure for our clients and world-class partners. A wide range of Global 3000 customers and partners, including AT&T, CareerBuilder, Chordiant, CIGNA, Dell, FirstGov.gov (GSA), Freeserve, IBM, LexisNexis, Overture, Reed Elsevier, Reuters, SBC Communications, and T-Online currently use FAST's powerful enterprise search technology solutions. FAST operates globally with presence in the United States (Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco), Europe (Norway, France, Germany, Italy, UK), and Japan. FAST is publicly traded under the ticker symbol 'FAST' on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Please visit www.fastsearch.com for more information. (C)2003 Fast Search & Transfer ASA - Fast Search & Transfer, FAST, and the FAST four-colored logo are trademarks of Fast Search & Transfer ASA. All rights reserved. FAST disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
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