The Ashton Technology Group, Inc. Reports Second Quarter Financial Results.Business Editors PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 7, 2001 The Ashton Ash·ton , Sir Frederick 1904-1988. British choreographer whose ballets include The Dream (1964) and A Month in the Country (1976). Noun 1. Ashton - British choreographer (1906-1988) Sir Frederick Ashton Technology Group, Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : ASTN ASTN Automatic Switched Transport Network (optical networks) ASTN Automatically Switched Transport Network (ITU-T) ASTN Automotive Satellite Television Network ASTN Astern ASTN Astronomic ) today announced that its net loss for its second quarter ended September 30, 2001 totaled $2.9 million compared to a net loss of $4.3 million in the same quarter of the prior year. The net loss applicable to common stock for the quarter ended September 30, 2001 totaled $.13 per share, compared to a net loss of $.14 per share during the three months ended September 30, 2000. Revenues increased to $1.2 million during the three months ended September 30, 2001 from $37,778 during the same period last year, and from $205,738 during the three months ended June 30, 2001. Ashton executed a total of 102.4 million shares during the quarter ended September 30, 2001 in its eVWAP(TM) system, a pre-open intelligent matching system offered through the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX) A securities exchange trading American and European foreign currency options on spot exchange rates. , compared to 5.2 million shares during the same period in 2000, and 47.2 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2001. Ashton also executed an additional 7.4 million Nasdaq shares during the quarter ended September 30, 2001 away from the eVWAP system. Since April of 2001, Ashton expanded its eligible list of securities from 150 large-cap Large-cap A stock with a high level of capitalization, usually at least $5 billion market value. large-cap 1. Of or relating to the common stock of a big corporation that has considerable retained earnings and a large amount of stocks to the universe of the S&P 500 Index stocks, which includes approximately 70 Nasdaq issues. Within this list, Ashton has introduced a "Guaranteed Fill Program", which has resulted in the availability of up to 100 million shares of liquidity at the volume-weighted average price volume-weighted average price The average price of a stock calculated by dividing the daily trading volume into the dollar value of daily transactions. on a daily basis to selected institutions. Brokerage, clearing and exchange fees increased to $1.2 million from $134,838 as a result of the costs associated with increased trades executed Croix Securities, Inc., our subsidiary. Total operating costs operating costs npl → gastos mpl operacionales and expenses excluding brokerage, clearing and exchange fees were $2.9 million during the quarter ended September 30, 2001, compared to $3.5 million during the quarter ended September 30, 2000. Salaries and employee benefits decreased 5% to $1.37 million from $1.44 million due to a fewer employees. Total headcount was 42 at September 30, 2001, compared to 53 at September 30, 2000. Professional fees decreased 56% to $404,638 from $922,671, primarily as a result of a decrease in outsourced labor and legal costs. Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased 5% to $853,512 in the second quarter this year from $896,655 in the second quarter last year. During the three months ended September 30, 2001, Ashton exchanged its investment in JAGfn for the outstanding shares of UTTC UTTC University Technology Training Center UTTC Universal Tape-to-Tape Converter series TK convertible preferred stock Convertible Preferred Stock Preferred stock that includes an option for the holder to convert the preferred shares into a fixed number of common shares, usually anytime after a predetermined date. Also known as "convertible preferred shares". , 200,000 series T warrants, 309,500 of the 500,000 outstanding series K warrants, and an additional 39,000 shares of the class B common stock of Ashton Canada. Ashton recognized a $500,000 loss on the exchange, included in other expense, during the quarter. Other expense for the three months ended September 30, 2000 includes a charge of $106,875 for shares of common stock issued in connection with the acquisition of Hudson Knights Securities, LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control in July 2000. During the year ended March 31, 2001, Ashton's subsidiary, Electronic Market Center, Inc. (eMC) began the orderly orderly /or·der·ly/ (or´der-le) an attendant in a hospital who works under the direction of a nurse. or·der·ly n. An attendant in a hospital. winding down of its operations as a result of market conditions and a lack of financing available to complete its development. As a result, eMC's results of operations have been reclassified as discontinued operations Discontinued operations Divisions of a business that have been sold or written off and that no longer are maintained by the business. . eMC incurred an operating loss operating loss The excess of operating expenses over revenue. As with operating income, operating losses exclude revenues and expenses from operations that are not considered a regular part of the business. Also called deficit. Compare operating income. of $1,077 and a gain on the settlement of certain liabilities of $601,267 in the three months ended September 30, 2001, compared to an operating loss of $517,792 for the same period in 2000. Ashton's President, Arthur J. Bacci, said, "We made significant progress during the second quarter to increase eVWAP volumes and revenue, and to reduce our operating expenses Operating expenses The amount paid for asset maintenance or the cost of doing business, excluding depreciation. Earnings are distributed after operating expenses are deducted. . We continue to take actions to further grow our revenue and reduce expenses during the next six months. These actions include discussions with third parties to accelerate the growth in our trading volumes Trading volume The number of shares transacted every day. As there is a seller for every buyer, one can think of the trading volume as half of the number of shares transacted. That is, if A sells 100 shares to B, the volume is 100 shares. ." Ashton is an eCommerce company that develops and operates electronic trading  This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject.Please help recruit one or [ improve this article] yourself. See the talk page for details. and intelligent matching systems for the global financial securities industry. Its focus is to develop and operate alternative trading systems Alternative Trading Systems (ATS) are SEC-approved non-exchange trading venues. They play an important role in public markets for allowing alternative means of accessing liquidity. , serving the needs of exchanges, institutional investors Institutional Investor A non-bank person or organization that trades securities in large enough share quantities or dollar amounts that they qualify for preferential treatment and lower commissions. and broker-dealers in the U.S. and internationally. Its goal is to enable these market participants The term market participant is used in United States constitutional law to describe a U.S. State which is acting as a producer or supplier of a marketable good or service. When a state is acting in such a role, it may permissibly discriminate against non-residents. to trade in an electronic global trading environment that provides large order size, absolute anonymity, no market impact and lower transaction fees. The forgoing for·go also fore·go tr.v. for·went , for·gone , for·go·ing, for·goes To abstain from; relinquish: unwilling to forgo dessert. press release contains forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. based on current management expectations. A variety of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from current expectations include the availiability and terms of capital to continue to fund our operations; our ability to successfully operate and obtain sustained liquidity in our eVWAP and other trading systems The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. Please help [ improve the introduction] to meet Wikipedia's layout standards. You can discuss the issue on the talk page. ; fluctuations in securities trading securities trading, financial activity involving transactions of property such as stocks, bonds, commodities, and currency (see securities). Although the trading of stocks and bonds dates back several centuries in many Western nations, the development of the volume, prices or liquidity; our dependence on proprietary technology; technological changes and costs of technology; industry trends; and competition. These and other risks are described in greater detail in Ashton's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Financial tables follow)
THE ASHTON TECHNOLOGY GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
(unaudited)
Statement of Operations Data:
Three Months Ended Six Months Ended
------------------------- -------------------------
September 30, September 30,
2001 2000 2001 2000
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Revenues $ 1,206,726 $ 37,778 $ 1,412,464 $ 83,895
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Expenses:
Salaries and
employee
benefits 1,366,971 1,438,695 2,924,633 2,663,184
Professional
fees 404,638 922,671 1,197,903 1,391,596
Brokerage,
clearing and
exchange fees 1,218,287 134,838 1,751,790 294,983
Depreciation
and
amortization 232,266 155,190 482,171 273,856
Non-cash
compensation
charges - 10,027 - 20,054
Loss on
trading
activities 103,215 60,814 374,732 285,051
Selling,
general and
administrative 853,512 896,655 1,680,827 1,747,468
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Total costs
and expenses 4,178,889 3,618,890 8,412,056 6,676,192
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Loss from
operations (2,972,163) (3,581,112) (6,999,592) (6,592,297)
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Interest
income 26,461 346,622 90,448 742,455
Interest
expense (87,963) (863) (87,963) (7,985)
Other expense (506,250) (106,875) (506,250) (106,875)
Equity in loss
of affiliates - (432,852) (11,095) (637,839)
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Net loss from
continuing
operations $(3,539,915) $(3,775,080) $(7,514,452) $(6,602,541)
=========== =========== =========== ===========
Loss from
discontinued
operations of
eMC (1,077) (517,792) (1,966) (804,493)
Gain on disposal
of eMC 601,267 - 601,267 -
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Net loss $(2,939,725) $(4,292,872) $(6,915,151) $(7,407,034)
=========== =========== =========== ===========
Dividends
attributed to
preferred
stock (664,600) (178,987) (1,329,200) (397,728)
Dividends in
arrears on
preferred
stock (16,231) (142,541) (128,859) (277,171)
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Net loss
applicable to
common
stock $(3,620,556) $(4,614,400) $(8,373,210) $(8,081,933)
=========== =========== =========== ===========
Basic and
diluted net
loss per common
share from
continuing
operations $ (0.13) $ (0.14) $ (0.27) $ (0.25)
Basic and
diluted net
income (loss)
per common
share from
discontinued
operations $ 0.02 $ (0.02) $ 0.02 $ (0.03)
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Basic and
diluted net
loss per common
share $ (0.11) $ (0.16) $ (0.25) $ (0.28)
=========== =========== =========== ===========
Weighted
average number
of common
shares
outstanding,
basic and
diluted 33,894,389 28,642,880 33,556,801 28,405,330
=========== =========== =========== ===========
Balance Sheet Data: (unaudited) (audited)
Sept. 30, 2001 March 31, 2001
--------------------------------
Cash and cash equivalents $ 1,919,488 $ 6,028,883
Securities available for sale - 1,483,350
Total assets 5,437,006 13,065,778
Total liabilities 6,098,806 1,803,972
Minority interest 3,000,000 4,000,000
Redeemable preferred stock - 4,363,717
Total stockholders' (deficiency)
equity (3,661,800) 2,898,089
Websites: www.ashtontechgroup.com and www.evwap.com |
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