STOCKHOLM, Sweden, April 26, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- ReadSoft:
- The turnover increased with 6 percent to 62,8 (59,4) MSEK
- Results after interest income was -10,3 (-21,7) MSEK
- The goal of the cost savings program has been fulfilled, costs
has been reduced with 17,0 MSEK compared to Q3 2001
- Positive cash-flow amounted to 7,7 MSEK
- Liquidity was 66,5 (94,9) MSEK including unused committed
credit line
- Licenses were sold to e.g. Emons Spedition, Computershare and
the Pharmaceutical Association of Spain
- ReadSoft was awarded Best of AIIM
IMPORTANT EVENTS DURING THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2002
The start of the year brought along yet another prestigious award. ReadSoft received "Best of AIIM" from the American magazine Transform. The award recognized the most innovative products at the annual, world- leading document management exhibition AIIM. This time, ReadSoft's INVOICES technology was praised for its forward-thinking, SAP integration, and eMail and web functionality.
During the quarter, ReadSoft continued the global INVOICES launch, both in Scandinavia and the rest of the world. One of the recent customers is Emons Spedition GmbH, an international logistics company based in Cologne, who purchased ReadSoft's software INVOICES to process incoming invoices. Approximately 100,000 incoming invoices will be scanned, interpreted and verified annually. Emons Spedition is the first SAP R/3 user in Germany to implement ReadSoft's SAP-validated INVOICES solution.
Regarding FORMS, the quarter brought along a number of new deals and upgrades. After several years of successful use, the Australian finance and technology provider Computershare has signed a global license to roll out Eyes & Hands FORMS on their international markets. The order value is 150,000 USD. So far Computershare has invested approximately 700,000 USD in ReadSoft's FORMS software.
One year after the first implementation of ReadSoft's solution for automatic data capture, the Pharmaceutical Association of Spain has signed a large new license contract for FORMS. The software will be used to automate the processing of medical prescriptions and eliminate manual keypunching. The upgrade is worth 300,000 USD.
TURNOVER AND RESULTS DURING THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2002
During the quarter, the revenue amounted to 62,8 (59,4) MSEK, an increase by 6 percent. Results after interest income for the period was -10,3 (-21,7) MSEK. The operating margin for the quarter was -16,4 (- 36,5) percent.
Included in the result is a capitalization of research and development expenditure by 2,6 (0) MSEK. The capitalization is carried out in accordance with Redovisningradet's recommendation number 15. No capitalization of R&D expenditures were made during the same period last year.
The cost savings program, carried out during the fourth quarter 2001 has met the expectations and the savings amount to 17,0 MSEK compared to the third quarter 2001.
In Scandinavia the sales increased by 17 percent compared to the first quarter of 2001 and totaled 18,6 (15,9) MSEK. The company's sales in the remaining part of Europe amounted to 29,4 (30,4) MSEK and in the U.S. and the rest of the world the sales amounted to 14,8 (13,4) MSEK.
The license revenue, consisting of one-time payments for the right to use our software, amounted to 25,3 (26,4) MSEK during the first quarter, which is 41 (44) percent of the total revenue. Out of the total license revenue for the first quarter, FORMS represented 70 (81) percent and INVOICES 30 (19) percent.
Service fees (annual proceeds from service agreements) amounted to 17,0 (14,0) MSEK. In addition, revenues for training and customer-specific development were 8,2 (8,9) MSEK. Hardware sales (mainly scanners) amounted to 10,8 (5,9) MSEK. Other revenues totaled 1,5 (4,1) MSEK.
STAFF
As of March 31, 2002, the ReadSoft staff amounted to 288 (307), a decrease by 20 percent compared to the situation at the launch of the cost savings program.
INVESTMENTS
Investments during the first quarter amounted to 0,7 (2,6) MSEK and consisted of the acquisition of computer-, office- and event related equipment. Included in the costs for research and development during the quarter, 2,6 (0) MSEK is capitalization of R&D expenditure, as recommended by Redovisningsradet (recommendation no 15).
FINANCIAL POSITION
The liquidity as of March 31 was 66,5 (94,9) MSEK including 35,2 (19,8) in committed credit line. The solidity was 48,6 (60,5) percent as of March 31. At the beginning of the year, the solidity was 47,3 percent.
ReadSoft AB and Hagstromer & Qviberg Fondkommission AB have closed (October 2001) an agreement which gives ReadSoft the possibility to issue new shares and/or convertible bonds to a maximum total amount of 50 MSEK during a three-year period, if needed. The board of directors can call upon a number of new issues of shares/convertible bonds, in the interval 10-20 MSEK each during the period. When called upon, Hagstromer & Qviberg Fondkommission AB will issue the shares and/or convertible bonds.
SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION
At the end of the period, the number of shareholders amounted to 7163 (6339). Out of the company's total capital, 45 (48) percent were owned by Swedish and foreign institutions, 29 (30) percent by the company's founders, and 26 (22) percent by private persons, including staff. At the end of the period, Swedish shareholders held 82 (78) percent and foreign shareholders held 18 (22) percent of the total share value.
THE PARENT COMPANY
The parent company's net sales for the first quarter, including inter- company posts, amounted to 20,8 (19,7) MSEK. The result after financial items was -1,6 (-11,0) MSEK. Investments in the parent company amounted to 0,1 (1,4) MSEK. At the end of the period, liquidity was 33,8 (56,1) MSEK including 30 (15) MSEK in committed credit line. Equity was 99,9 (153,7) MSEK, resulting in a solidity of 84,9 (86,2) percent.
PRODUCTS
Our product concept e-capture offers a complete solution for automatic data capture. e-capture means the ability to capture, interpret and process information from paper, fax, the web, email and other media and transport it to a customer's target system. ReadSoft's software is called FORMS and INVOICES and they facilitate and improve the data capture at companies and authorities all over the world. The products give our customers the possibility to lower their costs and automate their data capture, irrespective of if the information comes from paper or electronic documents. With ReadSoft's solutions, customers do not need to build and maintain parallel systems to handle the different information flows, instead they can build a uniform system with common rules for how the information should be captured and handled.
FUTURE PROSPECTS
The start of the year has gone according to plan and the budget goals for Q1 2002 have been fulfilled. The turnover increased by six percent and the result has improved substantially, compared to the same period last year. The cost savings program, carried out during the fourth quarter 2001 has met our expectations and the savings amount to 17,0 MSEK compared to the third quarter 2001. Our cash flow is also according to plan and has improved by 7,7 MSEK during the period.
Due to seasonal variations in sales, Quarter One is usually the weakest period of the year so our chances of increasing our revenue in the coming quarters are good. The market is still somewhat weak, but we see signs of improvements. The goal for 2002 is to become profitable for the full year and due to the positive start we believe our chances continues to be good.
COMING INFORMATION OCCASIONS
- Interim Report January - June, presented August 8, 2002 - Interim Report January - September, presented October 25, 2002 For more information contact MD Jan Andersson +46-42-490 21 00, mobile +46-708-37 66 00 or Head of Information Olof Engvall at +46-708-37 66 70. Please visit www.readsoft.com
This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net
The following files are available for download:
www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/04/26/20020426BIT00920/wkr0001.doc The Full Report www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/04/26/20020426BIT00920/wkr0002.pdf The Full Report