Sify Reports US GAAP Results for Quarter 4 and the Year Ended March 31, 2003.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers CHENNAI, India--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 22, 2003 This press release was originally announced April 17. Sify Achieves Cash Break-Even for the Fourth Quarter; Consolidates Leadership with Strong Growth for the Year Sify Limited (Nasdaq National Market:SIFY), India's premier Internet, networking and e-Commerce company, announced today its consolidated US GAAP GAAP See: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles GAAP See generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). results for the fourth quarter and the year ended March 31, 2003. Performance Highlights: -- Sify reports a positive cash profit (in Adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) A metric used to show a company's profitability, but not its cash flow. EBITDA became popular in the 1980s to show the potential profitability of leveraged buyouts, but has become (1) terms) during the quarter for the first time in over twelve quarters. Sify also reports a positive cash generation from operations (cash profit less increase in working capital). -- Sales revenue for the quarter increased to USD USD In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the U.S. Dollar. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. 12.8 million (52% increase over same quarter last year; 17% sequential increase over the last quarter). -- Net loss for the quarter under US GAAP was reduced to USD 3.1 million, from USD 8.6 million in the prior year and USD 6.8 million in the immediately preceding quarter. -- Net increase in cash during the quarter was USD 0.7 million as against cash burn of USD 3.5 million same quarter last year -- Cash at the end of the quarter was USD 22.6 million. Mr R Ramaraj, Managing Director and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. , said, "We are all pleased that Sify is reporting a cash profit and a positive cash generation from operations this quarter. This is a validation of Sify's business model. I would particularly like to recognise the contribution from all our customers and our employees who have made this milestone reachable." Mr George Zacharias, President & COO, Sify, said, "Our continuing improvements in business performance give us the confidence to invest further into our business and continue to build competitive advantages. In particular, we plan during the June and September quarters to invest in an expanded marketing campaign to support our rapidly growing businesses. That spending may result in modest consumption of cash in those quarters. Our current business plan calls for positive cash to be generated in the second half of the current fiscal year." Summarized Results: (In $ million, all translated at $1 = Rs 47.53)
Description Quarter ended Year ended Quarter
31 March 31 March ended 31
December
2003 2002 2003 2002 2002
Corporate Services 6.38 4.15 21.37 16.82 5.44
Retail Internet Access 4.36 2.82 14.19 10.85 3.78
Interactive Services 0.81 1.04 3.47 4.36 0.93
Others 1.21 0.41 2.93 1.15 0.78
Sales Revenue 12.76 8.42 41.96 33.18 10.93
Adjusted EBITDA(1) 0.29 (5.50) (10.31) (20.71) (2.95)
Depreciation & Amortization (2.82) (3.19) (12.77) (20.34) (3.59)
Impairment -
Goodwill/Assets (0.91) - (5.20) (109.77) -
Depreciation/Impairment:
Affiliates (0.26) (0.04) (0.79) (0.42) (0.27)
Profit - business
sold/discontinued 0.48 - 0.52 (0.93) -
Net interest 0.32 0.14 0.65 0.64 0.01
Tax (0.19) - (0.06) - 0.02
Net Income / (Loss) (3.09) (8.59) (27.96) (151.53) (6.78)
Adjusted EBITDA(1)/(loss)
$/ADR 0.01 (0.24) (0.39) (0.89) (0.12)
Net income/(loss)
$/ADR (0.09) (0.37) (1.08) (6.53) (0.27)
(1) Adjusted EBITDA represents net income (loss) before interest, income tax, depreciation and amortization, impairment of intangible assets and results of discontinued operations Discontinued operations Divisions of a business that have been sold or written off and that no longer are maintained by the business. . Please see "Non-GAAP Financial Information", below. Corporate Services Activities that combine or consolidate certain enterprise-wide needed support services, provided based on specialized knowledge, best practices, and technology to serve internal (and sometimes external) customers and business partners. : Corporate Services business accounted for 50% of total revenues during the quarter, recording a growth of 54% over same quarter last year. The growth trend was seen across all services, including: network connectivity, VPNs, security services Security services are state institutions for the provision of intelligence, primarily of a strategic nature, but also including protective security intelligence. Examples include the Security Service (MI5) and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) in the United Kingdom, and the , messaging services, hosting services and related value added Value Added The enhancement a company gives its product or service before offering the product to customers. Notes: This can either increase the products price or value. services. Key customer wins during the quarter in Data/Network services include ITC ITC (Brit) n abbr (= Independent Television Commission) → Fernseh-Aufsichtsgremium ITC n abbr (BRIT) (= Independent Television Commission) → Infotech, North Delhi North Delhi is an administrative district of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India. North Delhi is bounded by the Yamuna River on the east, and by the districts of North West Delhi to the north and west, West Delhi to the southwest, Central Delhi to the south, Power, SKF SKF Svenska Kullagerfabriken SKF Svenska Klätterförbundet (Sweden) SKF Smithsonian Kite Festival SKF San Antonio Kelly Field Annex (Lackland AFB, Texas) , Franklin Templeton and SITA to name a few. Key wins in value added application services See ASP and Web services. include British Council The British Council is one of the United Kingdom's cultural relations organisations and which specialises in educational opportunities. It is a non-departmental public body and is registered as a charity in England. India Library, New India Assurance New India Assurance is currently the largest Non-Life Insurance Company in India. It is one of the five Public Sector insurance companies in India with its headquarters in Mumbai. Previously it was a subsidiary of the General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC). , ABN Amro ABN AMRO Algemene Bank Nederland-Amsterdam Roterdam Bank (Dutch bank) Bank, Amul and ISRO ISRO Indian Space Research Organisation (Bangalore, India) ISRO Isle Royale National Park (US National Park Service) ISRO International Society of Radiation Oncology ISRO International Securities Regulatory Organisation . The Hindu newspaper group became the first buyer of "Beacon", an in-house developed product for network management. Sify's subsidiary Safescrypt made significant inroad in·road n. 1. A hostile invasion; a raid. 2. An advance, especially at another's expense; an encroachment. Often used in the plural: Foreign products have made inroads into the American economy. into the market for PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) A framework for creating a secure method for exchanging information based on public key cryptography. The foundation of a PKI is the certificate authority (CA), which issues digital certificates that authenticate the identity of services and added new clients like ICICI Bank, Financial Technologies and Sohonet. Sify's national backbone infrastructure is now India's first Tier 1 IP backbone powered by Gigabit Switched Routers. This will enable us to deliver next generation networking Next Generation Networking (NGN) is a broad term to describe some key architectural evolutions in telecommunication core and access networks that will be deployed over the next 5-10 years. services to customers. Consumer Services: Access Media
Access Media business segment accounted for 34% of Sify's revenue.
This in turn was made up as below:
-- Internet access at home through
dial up/broadband, etc. 18%
-- Internet access at "iway" cybercafes 12%
-- Voice over internet 4%
In the dial-up market, which saw the closure of many ISP's, Sify continued to lead by offering a superior quality of user experience with first time connectivity, uninterrupted services and speedy downloads. Sify's I-way cyber cafes saw rapid migration of almost all I-ways to broadband with high speed, reliable last mile connectivity managed by Sify. This has enabled us to provide good quality user experience. The number of cybercafes increased to 844. Interactive Services Sify's online portal flagship www.sify.com was revamped with a signature look and feel with superior navigation, and a single sign in for the convenience of registered users. The Samachar website was modified, with content enhancement through strategic tie-ups. Sify was the first portal to launch push-based SMS (1) (Storage Management System) Software used to routinely back up and archive files. See HSM. (2) (Systems Management Server) Systems management software from Microsoft that runs on Windows NT Server. services for consumers during the Cricket World Cup. Sify Power Mail, a value added paid mail service was also launched. About Sify: Sify is the largest network and e-Commerce services company in India, offering end-to-end solutions with a comprehensive range of products delivered over a common Internet backbone infrastructure. This Internet backbone reaches 55 points of presence in India, representing an estimated 90% of the established PC base in the country. A significant part of the company's revenue is derived from Corporate Services, which include corporate connectivity, network and communications solutions, security, network management services and hosting. As of March 31, 2003, a host of blue chip customers used Sify's corporate service offerings. The company's network services, data center operations and customer relationship management are accredited accredited recognition by an appropriate authority that the performance of a particular institution has satisfied a prestated set of criteria. accredited herds cattle herds which have achieved a low level of reactors to, e.g. ISO (1) See ISO speed. (2) (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, www.iso.ch) An organization that sets international standards, founded in 1946. The U.S. member body is ANSI. 9001:2000. For more information about Sify, visit www.sifycorp.com. Non-GAAP Financial Information Our presentation of financial information above includes a presentation of Adjusted EBITDA. EBITDA is neither an Indian GAAP measure nor a U.S. GAAP measure and should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to net income as an indicator of operating performance or as an alternative to cash flow as a measure of liquidity. Our presentation above also includes a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net loss, which we believe to be the most comparable financial measure under U.S. GAAP. Adjusted EBITDA is presented because it is a basis upon which our management assesses our financial performance and because we believe some investors find it to be a useful tool for measuring a company's ability to fund operating obligations and capital expenditures. Investors evaluating our financial performance or analyzing our discounted cash flows based on Adjusted EBITDA should consider financing activities and non-recurring charges that are not included in the calculation. Our calculation includes significant charges recorded to reflect the impairment of goodwill which are not included in the calculation of EBITDA under the SEC's rules applicable to periodic reports. While EBITDA or derivations thereof are frequently reported by many companies as a supplemental measure of operations, it is not necessarily comparable to other similarly titled captions of other companies due to potential inconsistencies in the method of calculation. Forward Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The forward-looking statements contained herein are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Sify undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements. For a discussion of the risks associated with Sify's business, please see the discussion under the caption "Risks Related to Our Business" in the company's report on Form 6-K for the quarter ended December 31, 2002 which has been filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and is available by accessing the database maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. |
|
||||||||||||||

Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion