OTTAWA, Canada, Jan. 13 /CNW-PRN/ - Fulcrum Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq:
FULCF; TSE: FUL) today announced that it expects its fiscal fourth quarter
results to fall short of the estimates of financial analysts. While these
figures are preliminary, the Company now expects to report revenues of
approximately $15.5 million for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 1996.
Including a non-recurring charge of approximately $15 million, the loss from
operations in the quarter is expected to be approximately $21 million, and the
after-tax net loss is expected to be approximately $13.5 million or $0.90 per
share. Fulcrum(R) plans to report final audited results for the fourth quarter
and for the year, as expected, on February 10, 1997. All financial figures
are preliminary and are expressed in Canadian dollars.
The one-time non-recurring charge of approximately $15 million during the
fourth quarter is related primarily to the write-off or significant write-down
of previously capitalized research and development costs and acquired
technologies.
For the twelve months ended December 31, 1996, revenue is expected to be
approximately $60 million, an increase of approximately 40 percent from the
previous year. Including the non-recurring charge of approximately
$15 million, loss from operations is expected to be approximately $17 million,
with an after-tax net loss for the year of approximately $11 million or $0.72
per share.
Eric Goodwin, Fulcrum's Chairman and CEO, stated: ``Although our revenue
grew by approximately 40 percent this year, and we continue to gain overall
market share, we are disappointed with our lower-than-expected results.
We have seen some major contracts move out of the quarter and sales of our
Fulcrum FIND! product have been significantly below expectations. Also,
although fourth quarter sales in US showed improvement over the third quarter,
they continued to be under our expectations.
``In our discussions with the analyst community in October, we identified
risks for Fulcrum associated with delays in the deployment of Microsoft
Exchange. It is now clear that many large organizations have delayed
implementation of public folder-based applications while they evaluate
infrastructure issues. Although the pipeline for Fulcrum FIND! continues to
build, these delays in deployment of Microsoft Exchange impacted our revenues
in the fourth quarter.
``We recognize that our marketplace is undergoing fundamental changes, as
a result of the shift to Web-centric computing. In these times of accelerated
technological change, we believe that it is appropriate to fully expense
research and development investments as they are made - which is the main
factor behind the one-time charge.
``While our industry is clearly in a turbulent period, I am confident
that Fulcrum has the vision, the research and development capability and the
distribution channels to solidify our leadership position,'' Goodwin
concluded.
The Company also announced the appointment of Eric Goodwin, previously
President and Chief Executive Officer, to Chairman of the Board and Chief
Executive Officer, and the appointment of Mike Laginski, previously Executive
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, to President and Chief Operating
Officer, effective immediately. In his new role, Laginski will oversee all of
the functional groups at the company, and Goodwin will focus increasingly on
the longer-term strategic issues. Tom Csathy will move from his role as
Chairman of Fulcrum's Board to a new role as Vice Chairman.
Fulcrum is a world leader in providing information search-and-retrieval
software for the extended enterprise. This software can be used on Internet
and Intranet sites, on computer networks, and on CD-ROMs. Fulcrum counts
major corporations and industry leaders Fujitsu, Microsoft, and Novell among
its customers. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, Fulcrum has offices
throughout the United States and Europe, and offices in Sydney, Australia and
Tokyo, Japan. Fulcrum is publicly traded on the NASDAQ National Market
(``FULCF'') and on the Toronto Stock Exchange (``FUL'').
Any forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the
safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve
risk and uncertainties, including without limitation, risks of intellectual
property litigation, risks in technology development and commercialization,
risks in product development and market acceptance of and demand for the
Company's products, risks of downturns in economic conditions generally, and
in the software application development tools and information retrieval
software tools markets specifically, risks associated with competition and
competitive pricing pressures, risks associated with foreign sales and higher
customer concentration and other risks detailed in the Company's filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In addition, the projected financial results contained in this press
release are preliminary, and the Company has not yet completed the process of
finalizing it financial results for the quarter. Further information on
factors that could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated is
detailed in various publicly available documents, which include, but are not
limited to, filings made by the Company from time to time with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
September 30, 1996. Any forward-looking statements should be considered in
light of these factors.
Visit Fulcrum's Web site: http://www.fulcrum.com
Fulcrum is a registered trademark of Fulcrum Technologies Inc. and
Fulcrum FIND! is a trademark of Fulcrum. Other trademarks used throughout
this document are trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE: Fulcrum Technologies Inc.
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CONTACT: Investor relations, Fulcrum, (613) 238-1761, ext. 230, e-mail: investors(at)fulcrum.com or media may contact: Gillian Brouse, Fulcrum, (613) 238-1761, ext. 251, e-mail: pr(at)fulcrum.com
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