Bright Station plc Announces 2000 Q3 Results for Three Months to September 30, 2000; Revenues Increase 89% Over Last Year and Rise 23% Over Last Quarter.Business Editors LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 7, 2000 Bright Station plc (LSE LSE - Language Sensitive Editor : BSN BSN abbr. Bachelor of Science in Nursing , Nasdaq:BSTN) (www.brightstation.com), the technology company and leading provider of Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the and eCommerce See e-commerce. solutions, today announced its third quarter results for the three-month period ending September September: see month. 30, 2000. Q3 Financial Highlights: - 2000 Q3 revenues of $3.5 million, up 23% over Q2 2000 and 89% over Q3 1999; - Pre-tax loss of $6.5 million reflects investment in building underlying businesses; - Closing quarter-end cash of $28.7 million; - Part disposal of investment in Teltech Resources following their sale to Sopheon plc, giving rise to a capital gain of $176,000 and Q4 cash proceeds of $4.0 million. The Company still retains a 1.2% shareholding in Sopheon plc; - Strategic investments made in Netimperative, Schools for Schools and Youareable.com. Q3 Operational Highlights: - Smartlogik establishes US sales-team and drives revenue with new contract wins; - OfficeShopper moves Head Office operations to Chertsey Chertsey (chûrt`sē), town (1991 pop. 10,198), Surrey, SE England. Its market gardens serve London. Varied engineering works are located in Chertsey. (Southwest Southwest or south west is the ordinal direction halfway between south and west, the opposite of northeast. Southwest or south west may also refer to:
London London, city, Canada London, city (1991 pop. 303,165), SE Ont., Canada, on the Thames River. The site was chosen in 1792 by Governor Simcoe to be the capital of Upper Canada, but York was made capital instead. London was settled in 1826. ), opens regional distribution center at Heathrow and continues to show strong revenue gains; - Sparza, the subsidiary that acquired the Boo.com Boo.com was a United Kingdom Internet company founded by Ernst Malmsten, Kajsa Leander and Patrik Hedelin that famously went bust following the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. Boo. technology, has been significantly enhanced to allow multiple customers to use its eCommerce hosting capabilities; - WebTop (1) Using a Web browser as the desktop interface in a client machine. (2) A specification from Sun, IBM and Oracle for a common interface for Java-based network computers. recognized as second largest Web search engine See Web search engines. and media reviews acknowledge it as a revolutionary product. WebTop generated its first revenue stream from WebCheck product licenses. Allen Al·len , Edgar 1892-1943. American anatomist who is noted for his studies of hormones and for the discovery (1923) of estrogen. Thomas (language) Thomas - A language compatible with the language Dylan(TM). Thomas is NOT Dylan(TM). The first public release of a translator to Scheme by Matt Birkholz, Jim Miller, and Ron Weiss, written at Digital Equipment Corporation's Cambridge Research Laboratory runs , Chairman Bright Station plc, commented: "We have continued to make good progress in all areas of our businesses. Senior marketing and sales appointments have been made across all the Divisions. The new business pipeline for all the Bright Station businesses looks considerably stronger than at the start of the year and these early signs of healthy revenue growth mean that we can anticipate continuing progress in the last quarter of 2000." Business Review: Group revenues grew to $3.5 million for Q3 2000, an increase of 23% over Q2 2000 and 89% over Q3 1999. Bright Station is managed through three operating divisions: Web Solutions Division (WSD WSD Word Sense Disambiguation (computational linguistics) WSD Web Services on Devices (Information Technology) WSD Water Supplies Department (Hong Kong) ) WSD is focused on leveraging its proprietary InfoSort (content indexing technology), Muscat Muscat, Maskat, or Masqat (all: mŭs`kăt, mŭs`kət), city (1993 pop. 533,774), capital of Oman, SE Arabia, on the Gulf of Oman. It is flanked by rugged mountains. (natural language search technology), Smartlogik (the knowledge management suite of solutions) and WebTop/WebCheck (the concept-based web search tool). Revenues for the third quarter increased by 6% over Q2 2000 to $2.2 million despite business re-organization, new management appointments and the traditional seasonal slowdown For articles with similar titles, see Slow Down (disambiguation). A slowdown is an industrial action in which employees perform their duties but seek to reduce productivity or efficiency in their performance of these duties. . During the quarter, Smartlogik recruited a direct sales force based on both the East and West Coast of the United States The "West Coast", "Western Seaboard", or "Pacific Seaboard" are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the Western United States, comprising most often California, Oregon and Washington. and it also signed several new contracts in the US. These include Mybizworld - a business portal providing aggregated news, research collaboration Working together on a project. See collaborative software. and commerce to small businesses, and a contract with Thomson's Institute of Scientific Information. ISI ISI International Sensitivity Index, see there has licensed Smartlogik technology as an integral partner in developing management solutions for their large global academic government and corporate customer base. This partnership will provide Smartlogik with revenue sharing revenue sharing Funding arrangement in which one government unit grants a portion of its tax income to another government unit. For example, provinces or states may share revenue with local governments, or national governments may share revenue with provinces or states. opportunities as ISI and Thomson Scientific Thomson Scientific is one of the five operating divisions of the Thomson Corporation. The Scientific division provides information-based solutions for the Academic, Business and R&D communities. roll out their expanded product offerings. The third quarter saw WebTop building its management team and awareness for its product. With both a new Sales Director and a new Marketing Director in place an encouraging pipeline of prospects has been developed. Since the quarter end WebTop has announced the appointment of Andy Mitchell Andy Mitchell may refer to:
DoubleClick is a company that develops and provides Internet ad serving services. Its clients include agencies, marketers (Universal McCann Interactive, AKQA etc. .com) as the CEO of its operations. The recent addition of Zones for searching allows users to get segmented results from the Web. Numerous articles about the revolutionary nature of the product have appeared in publications such as "Industry Standard," "PC Week" and "Marketing Communications Marketing communications (or marcom) are messages and related media used to communicate with a market. Those who practice advertising, branding, direct marketing, graphic design, marketing, packaging, promotion, publicity, sponsorship, public relations, sales, sales ." Over the last three months, WebTop searches have increased by 40% per week and page impressions are up 30%. eCommerce Division (ECD ECD Early Childhood Development ECD Electron Capture Detector ECD Energy Citations Database ECD Executive Creative Director (advertising) ECD Ethyl Cysteinate Dimer ECD Electron Capture Dissociation ECD Electronic Civil Disobedience ) ECD contains B2B (Business to Business) Refers to one business communicating with or selling to another. See B2B e-commerce, B2C and B2G. B2B - business to business OfficeShopper (business supplies online) and Sparza (B2B eCommerce licensing technologies). Revenues for the third quarter increased by 71% over Q2 2000 to $1.3 million. The quarter saw the successful relocation RELOCATION, Scotch law, contracts. To let again to renew a lease, is called a relocation. 2. When a tenant holds over after the expiration of his lease, with the consent of his landlord, this will amount to a relocation. of the OfficeShopper Head Office to Chertsey (Southwest London) and the opening of a Regional Distribution Center close to Heathrow Airport. It also saw the further development of their product, and revenues in the quarter have shown continued growth. OfficeShopper has first mover mover /mov·er/ (moo´ver) that which produces motion. prime mover a muscle that acts directly to bring about a desired movement. advantage for the provision of office supplies Office supplies is the generic term that refers to all supplies regularly used in offices by businesses and other organizations, from private citizens to governments, who works with the collection, refinement, and output of information (colloquially referred to as "paper work"). to small and medium-sized Me´di`um-sized` a. 1. Having a medium size; as, a medium-sized man s>. Adj. 1. medium-sized - intermediate in size medium-size, moderate-size, moderate-sized companies via the Internet. Its new Head Office location has enabled the hiring of high caliber staff and it is believed that the new business structure will further deliver an efficient and scaleable operation. The Sparza team have recently completed the transformation of the basic Sparza platform into a sophisticated ASP asp, popular name for several species of viper, one of which, the European asp (Vipera aspis), is native to S Europe. It is also a name for the Egyptian cobra (Naja haja). (Application Service Provider) by incorporating the Boo.com technology acquired in Q2. Sparza technology can now provide a hosting solution for both Internet companies that want a low risk, fast track entry into their respective markets, as well as large established retailers who wish to expand their market reach through an outsourced Outsourced is a modern day comedy of cross-cultural conflict and romance, directed by John Jeffcoat, released in 2007. Synopsis Todd Anderson (Josh Hamilton) spends his days managing a customer call center for American Novelty Products in Seattle, until his job, eCommerce platform. Bright Station Ventures (BSV BSV Bundesschuldenverwaltung BSV Banana Streak Virus BSV BASIC Bsave Graphics (File Name Extension) BSV Binocular Single Vision BSV Beach Support Vehicle BSV Bundesschüler-Innenvertretung BSV Best State Vector BSV Basic Graphics File ) BSV was established to leverage off the technology assets and commercial expertise that exists within the BSTN group through investment of cash and technology in new e-business (Electronic-BUSINESS) Doing business online. The term is often used synonymously with e-commerce, but e-business is more of an umbrella term for having a presence on the Web. opportunities. This 'tech equity' structure allows BSV to accelerate investees' business and product development, as well as drive future revenues to and create further technology synergies with the operating subsidiaries An operating subsidiary is a business term frequently used within the United States railroad industry. In the case of a railroad, it refers to a company that is a subsidiary but operates with its own identity and rolling stock. of the Group. BSV currently manages a portfolio of investments including: - Zawya Zawya can refer to:
The Arab World (Arabic: العالم العربي; Transliteration: al-`alam al-`arabi) stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the financial portal Financial Portal A website that provides a variety of financial data and information, acting as an information hub for clients who are individual investors requiring timely financial news and data to make their investment decisions. ; - Netimperative: A news site focusing on the Internet; - Youreable.com: A vertical portal A Web site that provides news, articles and services to a particular industry such as IT, finance and retail. It is the industry-specific equivalent of the general-purpose portal on the Web. Also called a "vortal." See portal, corporate portal, business intelligence portal and Web hub. for the disabled community providing both infomediary (INFOrmation interMEDIARY) An information provider that gathers content from several sources and functions as a data aggregator for a target audience. and transaction opportunities; - Schoolsforschools.com: An e-procurement (Electronic-PROCUREMENT) Purchasing online. E-procurement systems are used to obtain materials and parts via the Web or using traditional EDI standards either for internal manufacturing (direct procurement) or office supplies and equipment (indirect procurement). service allowing schools to purchase supplies at a reduced cost; - EHotel: California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). based hotel Internet access provider See ISP. (networking, company) Internet Access Provider - (IAP) A company or other origanisation which provides access to the Internet to businesses and/or consumers. ; and, - eFinancial News: Institutional financial publishing business BSV also provides an essential internal Corporate Finance role to assist in the acquisition and fundraising
Outlook The third quarter has seen some impressive progress towards achieving the business objectives of Bright Station. Early contract wins and increased awareness of the operating businesses indicates the potential going forward. The Company's cash position is sound and each core business is now proactively marketing their products and services. As a result, the new business pipeline for all the Bright Station businesses looks considerably stronger than at the start of the year. Following these early signs of healthy revenue growth in Q3, the Board anticipates continuing progress in the last quarter of 2000.
Bright Station plc
Consolidated Profit And Loss Account (unaudited)
For the 3 months ended September 30, 2000
Restated
--------------------------------
Continuing Discontinued
Total operations operations Total
-----------------------------------------
2000 1999 1999 1999
-------- -------- -------- --------
$'000 $'000 $'000 $'000
Turnover 3,500 1,852 72,406 74,258
Cost of sales (1,061) (403) (23,419) (23,822)
-------- -------- -------- --------
2,439 1,449 48,987 50,436
Distribution costs (770) (451) (7,629) (8,080)
Administrative expenses (8,717) (1,429) (19,854) (21,283)
Amortization of development
costs - - (3,623) (3,623)
-------- -------- -------- --------
Operating (loss)/profit (7,048) (431) 17,881 17,450
Exceptional items
- gain on sale of fixed
asset investment 176 - - -
- loss on termination
of subsidiary - - (1,346) (1,346)
-------- -------- -------- --------
(Loss)/profit on ordinary
activities before interest (6,872) (431) 16,535 16,104
======== ========
Net interest receivable/
(payable) 368 (6,561)
(Loss)/profit on ordinary
activities before taxation (6,504) 9,543
Taxation on (loss)/profit
on ordinary activities - (678)
(Loss)/profit on ordinary
activities after taxation (6,504) 8,865
Minority equity interests - 6
--------
Retained (loss)/profit (6,504) 8,871
========
(Loss)/earnings per ADS --------
(cents) (15.1) 23.4
--------
(Loss)/earnings per ADR
excluding exceptional --------
loss (cents) (15.1) 27.0
--------
Shares used in computing
earnings per ADS (thousands) 43,153 37,893
The financial results set forth above represent the Company's
financial results under UK GAAP translated for convenience into
US Dollars at the rate of US$:(pound) 1.478 being the rate of
exchange on September 30, 2000, the last trading day of the
period.
Bright Station plc
Consolidated Profit And Loss Account (unaudited)
For the 9 months ended September 30, 2000
Restated
----------------------------
Continuing Discontinued Continuing Discontinued
operations operations Total operations operations Total
---------- ---------- ----- ---------- ---------- -----
2000 2000 2000 1999 1999 1999
------ ------- ------ ------- ------- ------
$'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000
Turnover 8,549 72,635 81,184 11,203 192,000 203,203
Cost of sales (2,244) (32,664) (34,908) (1,598) (74,785) (76,383)
------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
Gross profit 6,305 39,971 46,276 9,605 117,215 126,820
Distribution costs (1,874) (11,252) (13,126) (1,203) (22,949) (24,152)
Administrative
expenses (19,283) (23,336) (42,619) (9,167) (50,335) (59,502)
Amortisation of
development costs - (5,404) (5,404) - (9,786) (9,786)
------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
Operating (loss)/
profit (14,852) (21) (14,873) (765) 34,145 33,380
Exceptional items
- gain on sale
of fixed asset
investment 176 - 176 - - -
- loss on
disposal
of ISD - (148,437)(148,437) - - -
- loss on
termination
of subsidiary - - - - (1,346) (1,346)
------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
(Loss)/profit
on ordinary
activities before
interest (14,676)(148,458)(163,134) (765) 32,799 32,034
======= ======= ======= =======
Net interest payable (8,936) (19,981)
------- -------
(Loss)/profit on
ordinary activities
before taxation (172,070) 12,053
Taxation on (loss)/
profit on ordinary
activities (401) (1,700)
------- -------
(Loss)/profit on
ordinary activities
after taxation (172,471) 10,353
Minority equity
interests (55) 13
------- -------
Retained (loss)/
profit (172,526) 10,366
======== =======
(Loss)/earnings per ------- -------
ADS (cents) (419.4) 27.3
------- -------
(Loss)/earnings per
ADS excluding
exceptional ------- -------
loss (cents) (59.0) 30.9
------- -------
Shares used in
computing earnings
per ADS (thousands) 41,136 37,903
The financial results set forth above represent the Company's
financial results under UK GAAP translated for convenience into
US Dollars at the rate of US$:(pound) 1.478 being the rate of
exchange on September 30, 2000, the last trading day of the
period.
Bright Station plc
Consolidated Balance Sheet (unaudited)
as at September 30, 2000
Restated Restated
--------- ---------
September September December
30 30 31
2000 1999 1999
$'000 $'000 $'000
FIXED ASSETS
Intangible assets 480 38,752 38,064
Goodwill 9,758 10,831 14,492
Tangible assets 3,249 23,117 21,192
Investments 1,746 19,121 14,241
--------- --------- ---------
15,233 91,821 87,989
--------- --------- ---------
CURRENT ASSETS
Stocks - 136 89
Debtors 10,618 68,232 54,228
Cash at bank and in hand 28,725 10,572 15,550
--------- --------- ---------
39,343 78,940 69,867
CREDITORS (amounts falling
due within one year) (8,507) (89,027) (105,786)
--------- --------- ---------
NET CURRENT LIABILITIES 30,836 (10,087) (35,919)
--------- --------- ---------
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT
LIABILITIES 46,069 81,734 52,070
CREDITORS (amounts falling due
after more than one year) - (210,832) (203,033)
Provisions for liabilities
and charges (1,258) (3,837) (2,114)
--------- --------- ---------
44,811 (132,935) (153,077)
========= ========= =========
CAPITAL AND RESERVES
Called up share capital 2,551 2,244 2,289
Share premium account 272,036 225,238 229,015
Shares to be issued 198 1,429 1,429
Profit and loss account (229,974) (362,711) (386,613)
--------- --------- ---------
Ordinary shareholders' funds 44,811 (133,800) (153,880)
Minority interest - 865 803
--------- --------- ---------
Total shareholders' funds 44,811 (132,935) (153,077)
========= ========= =========
The financial results set forth above represent the Company's
financial results under UK GAAP translated for convenience into
US Dollars at the rate of US$:(pound) 1.478 being the rate of
exchange on September 30, 2000, the last trading day of the
period.
Bright Station plc
Consolidated Cash Flow Statement
for the 9 Months Ended September 30, 2000 (unaudited)
Restated
3 months 9 months 9 months
--------- --------- ---------
2000 2000 1999
$'000 $'000 $'000
NET CASH (OUTFLOW)/INFLOW
FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES (6,955) (11,530) 32,702
--------- --------- ---------
RETURNS ON INVESTMENTS AND
SERVICING OF FINANCE
Interest received 174 757 235
Interest paid on bank loans
and overdrafts (9) (11,763) (15,990)
Interest paid on finance leases - (38) (7)
--------- --------- ---------
165 (11,044) (15,762)
--------- --------- ---------
TAXATION PAID - (367) (789)
--------- --------- ---------
CAPITAL EXPENDITURE
Payments to acquire
intangible assets (98) (4,394) (14,309)
Payments to acquire tangible
fixed assets (44) (2,991) (5,099)
Purchase of investments (879) (1,027) -
Receipts from sales of
tangible fixed assets - - 129
--------- --------- ---------
(1,021) (8,412) (19,279)
--------- --------- ---------
ACQUISITIONS AND DISPOSALS
Purchase of share in joint venture - - (1,825)
Proceeds from sale of investments - - 1,144
Payment to acquire minority
interest in subsidiary undertaking - - (634)
Expenses in connection with
purchase of subsidiary undertaking - - (729)
Cash transferred with sale of ISD - (7,114) -
Payment of deferred consideration - (1,864) -
Expenses in connection with
sale of ISD (350) (6,905) -
Proceeds from sale of ISD 6,938 74,131 -
--------- --------- ---------
6,588 258,248 (2,044)
--------- --------- ---------
CASH (OUTFLOW)/ INFLOW BEFORE
THE USE OF LIQUID RESOURCES
AND FINANCING (1,223) 226,895 (5,172)
--------- --------- ---------
FINANCING
Net proceeds on issue of
Ordinary share capital 98 41,826 -
Debt due within one year
- Increase in borrowings - - 38,756
- Repayment of loans (254,988) (29,341)
Repayment of capital element
of finance leases - (949) (479)
--------- --------- ---------
98 (214,111) 8,936
--------- --------- ---------
INCREASE IN CASH (1,125) 12,784 3,764
========= ========= =========
RECONCILIATION OF NET CASH FLOW TO
MOVEMENT IN NET FUNDS/(DEBT)
Increase in cash in the period (1,125) 12,784 3,764
Cash used to decrease lease financing - 949 479
Cash acquired from issue of debt
(net of expenses) - - (38,756)
Cash used to repay loans - 254,988 29,341
--------- --------- ---------
Change in net funds/(debt)
from cash flows (1,125) 268,721 (5,172)
Other non-cash changes - (9,053) (1,330)
New finance leases - - (3,070)
Finance lease obligations
transferred to ISD - 8,460 -
Effect of foreign exchange
rate changes 102 (7,389) (12,854)
--------- --------- ---------
Movement in net funds/(debt)
in period (1,023) 260,739 (22,426)
Net debt at beginning of period 29,748 (232,014) (213,123)
--------- --------- ---------
Net funds/(debt) at end of period 28,725 28,725 (235,549)
========= ========= =========
The financial results set forth above represent the Company's
financial results under UK GAAP translated for convenience into
US Dollars at the rate of US$:(pound) 1.478 being the rate of
exchange on September 30, 2000, the last trading day of the
period.
Bright Station plc
Analysis of Revenues
for the 9 Months Ended September 30, 2000 (unaudited)
-----------------------------------
2000
-----------------------------------
Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Total
$'000 $'000 $'000 $'000
ISD - discontinued operations 56,701 15,934 - 72,635
WSD - continuing operations 1,630 2,088 2,207 5,925
ECD - continuing operations 573 758 1,293 2,624
Total revenues 58,904 18,780 3,500 81,184
===================================
Restated
-----------------------------------
1999
-----------------------------------
Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Total
$'000 $'000 $'000 $'000
ISD - discontinued operations 61,242 58,352 72,406 192,000
WSD - continuing operations 1,391 7,033 1) 1,534 9,958
ECD - continuing operations 451 476 318 1,245
Total revenues 63,084 65,861 74,258 203,203
===================================
(1) Includes $5.9 million in respect of license fee from Fujitsu
The financial results set forth above represent the Company's
financial results under UK GAAP translated for convenience into
US Dollars at the rate of US$:(pound) 1.478 being the rate of
exchange on September 30, 2000, the last trading day of the
period.
These results are unaudited and do not constitute statutory
accounts within the meaning of Section 240 of the Companies Act
1985. The financial statements for the year ended 31 December
1999 have been audited by the Company's auditors,
PricewaterhouseCoopers, and delivered to the Registrar of
Companies. The audit report was not qualified and neither did it
contain any statements under Section 237 (2) or (3) of the
Companies Act 1985. With the exception of the change in
accounting policy for capitalised development costs and the
restatement of software licencing revenues (see interim
statement), the unaudited results for the nine months ended 30
September 2000 have been prepared in accordance with the
accounting policies stated in the 1999 Annual Report and
Accounts.
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