Fast Search & Transfer Announces First Quarter 2003 Results.

Business Editors

OSLO, Norway--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2003

FAST Grew New Business by 128% Year on Year; Reached Pro-Forma Q1 Revenues of $12 million; At $2.6 Million, Earned Positive Adjusted EBITDA for the 6th Straight Quarter

Fast Search & Transfer(TM) (FAST(TM)), the leading developer of enterprise search and real-time alerting technologies, today announced financial results for the first quarter-ended March 31, 2003. In light of FAST selling its Web Search business to Overture Services, Inc., the Company is electing to present pro-forma results including such business on a consolidated basis, in order to provide a comparison with previous quarters. To better understand the business going forward, the US GAAP results, which are also provided, present the current and historical results of FAST's Web Search business separately as one line item under "income (loss) from discontinued operations".

First Quarter 2003 Highlights

-- Pro-Forma revenues reached $12 million and grew slightly year

on year, as new business grew 128%

-- Growth of new business driven by the successful launch

of FAST Data Search 3

-- New and recurring business accounted for over 90% of

revenues, up from 52% in same period last year; and

-- Customer base was diversified as top 10 customers

accounted for 76% of revenue compared with 85% from

previous quarter and 88% from same period last year

-- Adjusted EBITDA and operating cash flow both hit $2.6 million

-- Earned positive adjusted EBITDA for the 6th straight

quarter and net profit of $0.3 million

-- Collections from customers surged 56% from previous

quarter and 154% from same period last year

-- Signed agreement with Overture Services, Inc.

-- Sale of FAST's Web Search business assets yields $70

million in cash plus performance based cash incentives

for up to $30 million over three years

-- Company focuses on extending success in enterprise

search market

-- Won major enterprise clients including KOBV, Tenet Health

Systems, Thomas Publishing and Virgilio (Matrix); expanded

relationships with lighthouse customers such as IBM, Dell,

Elsevier and Overture; and launched deployments with global

partners ACIS, Danet, iPhrase, Mphasis, Nottingham and

Picturesafe

-- Launched FAST Data Search 3.2(TM)

-- New product packaging and flexible pricing plan

enables easy deployment of multi-purpose platform at

multiple levels of enterprise across broad geographies

Q1 2003 Pro-Forma Financial Highlights
                                     For the three months ended
                               ---------------------------------------
(Amounts in US$000's)          31-March-03 31-December-02 31-March-02
                               (unaudited)   (unaudited)  (unaudited)
Revenues                          11,995        12,903       11,823
Net Income                           290           958          349
EBITDA                             1,978         3,040        2,397
Adjusted EBITDA(a)                 2,568         3,912        3,499

(a) EBITDA, excluding share-based compensation, equity in losses

of investee and non-recurring items

Financial Performance

Commenting on the results, Dr. John M. Lervik, chief executive officer of FAST, said, "We are encouraged by the amount of new business we generated in Q1 despite a challenging economy and the ongoing global conflicts. These results strengthen our confidence in our strategy of focusing on the fastest growing and most profitable part of FAST's business, namely the Enterprise Search business. With Q1 revenues of $12 million, profits of $0.3 million and adjusted EBITDA of $2.6 million, FAST continues to outperform the market as major competitors in the search space are experiencing revenue declines of as much as 35% from the same period last year."

Ali I. Riaz, chief financial officer and chief operating officer at FAST remarked, "Our financial condition is strong. Proof points are the positive developments in our operating cash flow and our quarter end cash position where we've preserved balances above $24 million over the last three quarters. Now that we've consummated the deal with Overture, FAST has nearly $100 million in the bank and a pro-forma current ratio of 15:1, which makes our liquidity the best in the industry."

Corporate Developments

In Q1, FAST announced that it signed an agreement with Overture Services to purchase FAST's Web Search business for $70 million in cash, as well as performance-based cash incentive payments of up to $30 million over three years. "With this deal in place, our goal remains to continue to drive towards a leadership position in the segment, establish our technology as an Enterprise Search Platform (ESP) for other software companies to leverage, all while expanding the landscape for search technology applications," commented Riaz. He added, "The Company is in a unique position to exploit its strong and flexible technology to further drive a multi-pronged distribution strategy; landing additional light-house direct customers, expanding global reach through a key network of system integrators and increasing revenue opportunities resulting from partners building industry specific applications based upon our enterprise search platform."

Innovation

With the launch of FAST Data Search 3.2 in Q1 2003, the Company strengthened its position as the industry leader in providing mission critical search solutions for the enterprise market. Two key features introduced include the Business Manager's Control Panel(TM), enabling business users to tune the application to it business needs, and Live Analytics(TM) that enables on-the-fly data and information analysis. In addition, the market for hosted FAST Data Search solutions continued to grow as FOXNews.com joined USATODAY.com and other FAST clients in choosing to work with the Company's flexible hosted solutions business model; which is unique to the enterprise search environment. The continued development and evolution of the FAST Data Search product line enabled the Company to enjoy its best quarter ever in terms of new customers and partners added.

Strategic Partnerships

In Q1, partner relationships yielded new opportunities for FAST. Strategic partnerships are integral to FAST's business, and at the heart of FAST's distribution strategy lies partnering with the strongest technology players and systems integrators. "By continuing to build our global partners and reseller network, we have expanded our market presence and in turn, have increased our global footprint," said Riaz. "Through relationships with top-notch partners, including ACIS Consulting (Canada), iPhrase, Kanda and Stratify Solutions (USA), Danet and Picturesafe (Germany), Mphasis (Asia) and Nottingham (South America), we are positioning FAST to expand its 'revenue growth potential' with unique and outstanding value propositions to regional as well as global leaders."

2003 Business Focus

FAST's business outlook remains strong for 2003. The Company has developed an enviable market presence. With its strong financial performance, growing client base and increased global presence, the Company has emerged as a market leader in the enterprise search space. The Company is well positioned to deliver upon its strategy of entering new markets with innovative solutions based on its industry leading enterprise search technology. The Company has targeted key vertical sectors whose business needs and requirements match up to the strengths of FAST Data Search. "The Company is continuing a strong drive towards leadership in the search sector. Q1 results indicate that FAST is emerging as the second largest player in the enterprise search segment. FAST is focused on fully leveraging the industrial strength of our technology, and we are prepared to create and exploit new opportunities that can bring FAST into new and exciting market segments," 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 customers and partners, including AT&T, CareerBuilder, Chordiant, CIGNA, Dell, FirstGov.gov (GSA), Freeserve, IBM, Overture, Reed Elsevier, Reuters, and T-Online currently use FAST's powerful enterprise search technology solutions.

FAST operates globally with offices in the United States (Boston, 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.