Tous Actualités
Suivre
Abonner Fast Search & Transfer ASA

Fast Search & Transfer ASA

Fast Search & Transfer Announces First Quarter 2005 Results

Oslo, Norway (ots/PRNewswire)

- FAST Achieved Record Revenues in Q1 of US$21.3 million, Yielding
Growth  of 70%; At US$5.3 Million in Q1, FAST's EBITDA More Than
Doubled, Reaching  25% of Revenues
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,
2005.
First Quarter 2005 Highlights
  • Q1 2005 revenues of US$21.3 million - grew 4% over Q4 2004, a seasonally high quarter, and 70% year on year
  • Growth driven by widening adoption of the FAST Enterprise Search Platform (FAST ESP(TM)), Search Derivative Applications (SDAs), and OEM enterprise search solutions
  • Q1 operating income of US$3.6 million and EBIT of US$3.7 million - both reached 17% of revenues
  • EBITDA of US$5.3 million in Q1 - more than doubled year on year and reached 25% of revenues
  • Q1 operating cash flow of US$6.9 million - quarter end cash balances up US$3.4 million to US$80.3 million
  • Cash received from customers surged to US$24.9 million in Q1 - more than doubled year on year
  • Launched FAST Search Best Practices(TM) (FAST SBP(TM)), a new industry leading consulting service that helps organisations optimise the functionality of Enterprise Search Solutions to maximise the value of their IT investments, speed time to market and increase business impact
  • Launched two new SDAs in the first quarter:
  • FAST ProPublish(TM), the industry's first complete enterprise search-based publication production management and delivery solution; and
  • FAST mSearch(TM), the industry's first mobile search solution to collectively integrate content such as music, games, ring tones, and images with highly relevant content from the mobile Web, providing users with an optimised and more personal search experience on their mobile devices
  • Hosted FAST's second annual FAST Analyst Days event which provides industry analysts with FAST's 2005 market vision and technology roadmap
  • Client News: Key wins in eCommerce, Government, Financial Services and Publishing markets
  • New enterprise search clients include: Deutsche Telekom AG, Frontrange, H3G Italy, HBZ, Intology (Australia) Pty Ltd., Matrix, Optus, Ovid, Risk Management Associates, Schibsted, Schultz Information A/S, Sisis, and T-Online International AG
  • New reseller, OEM and alliance partners include: Aptas Dex, Chordiant, Siebel Systems, and Stellent
Q1 2005 Financial Highlights
For the three months ended
    (Amounts in US$000's) 31-March-05 31-December-04 31-March-04
                          (unaudited)    (unaudited) (unaudited)
    REVENUES                   21,266         20,409      12,525
    EBITDA(x)                   5,278          5,209       2,292
    EBIT(x)                     3,663          3,481         383
    Net Income                  2,734          2,847         374
(x) EBITDA and EBIT exclude income (loss) from discontinued
operations.
Financial Performance
Commenting on the results, Dr. John M. Lervik, chief executive
officer of FAST stated, "In Q1 2005, FAST once again delivered a
strong revenue performance with record enterprise search revenues of
US$21.3 million; this represents growth of 4% over last quarter,
despite Q1 traditionally being weaker than Q4 due to seasonality, and
70% over the same quarter last year. We are encouraged that FAST
continues to set the pace in terms of both growth and product
innovation within the Enterprise Search industry. With the launch of
two new SDAs, the introduction of a Search Best Practices group, and
a wealth of new and innovative customer installations, FAST continues
to extend the definition of Enterprise Search. Furthermore,
significant activities within our Alliance and OEM programs have
supported the growth of our business. Our Alliance and OEM
partnerships have led to dramatic growth in terms of our global
presence, revenue and leadership in the search market as demonstrated
by our exceptional performance during the first quarter of 2005."
Ali I. Riaz, chief financial officer and chief operating officer
at FAST, remarked, "Our financial performance continued to strengthen
in Q1 indicated by the growth in new and recurring business, which
resulted in top line growth of 70% year over year, EBITDA more than
doubling, and the EBITDA to revenue margin pushing upward to 25%. In
summary, FAST reached significant financial milestones in Q1 2005 and
continued to demonstrate its leadership in the market with the
fastest growing revenues and leading profitability in our space.
Strategically our platform (ESP) and applications (SDAs) strategy is
yielding strong results. The fact that SDAs are built on the ESP
capabilities gives FAST development and support synergies. More
importantly, it gives our customers deployment and administrative
synergies. Tactically, FAST's products and services are resonating
well with growth & market leaders, strategic System Integrators and
leading software vendors as our offerings are holistically designed
to deliver not only technology, but subject matter expertise and
long-term partnership. Ultimately, our 100% customer retention rate,
98% customer satisfaction rate, highest average deal size in the
industry, and very capable employee pool are operational performance
indicators behind the financial performance."
Corporate Developments
"FAST is working with its customers and partners to expand the
role and business impact of Enterprise Search and to provide them
with specialised search applications that meet their specific needs,"
commented Lervik. In the past quarter, the Company unveiled its FAST
Search Best Practices(TM) consulting services (FAST SBP(TM)).
Designed to help clients maximise the investment they have made, or
plan to make, in search technology, FAST SBP provides organisations
with the framework to fully understand the potential of their search
initiatives, the tools required to optimise their search related
results, and the mechanisms to deploy, manage, and continuously
improve their enterprise search implementation.
In Q1, many global organisations including Deutsche Telekom AG,
Frontrange, H3G Italy, HBZ, Intology (Australia) Pty Ltd., Matrix,
Risk Management Associates, Optus, Ovid, Schultz Information A/S,
Schibsted, Siebel Systems, Sisis, and T-Online International AG
signed on or expanded their agreements with FAST as enterprise
customers to use FAST's search technology and expand their
utilisation by deploying additional applications. These deals further
demonstrate FAST's ability to retain and enhance existing client
relationships against stiff competition.
FAST continues to aggressively build upon the solid relationships
that it previously developed with OEM partners such as Chordiant,
EMC, and Stellent. In Q1, EMC launched EMC Centera Seek, a solution
based on FAST InStream. Also, FAST signed an OEM licensing agreement
with Siebel Systems, involving the integration of FAST InStream(TM)
within the core Siebel business applications platform, thus making
FAST's powerful enterprise search capabilities available across
Siebel Systems' family of business applications and hosted solutions.
The integration of FAST InStream with Siebel business applications
will enable a host of innovative new functionality for Siebel
customers and will break new ground for CRM, furthering its
relationships with the market leaders in Enterprise Content
Management, Storage & Archive Solutions, and Customer Relationship
Management (CRM). These deals demonstrate the success of FAST's
application enablement strategy and execution, and furthermore
exhibit that FAST's OEM solutions can be utilised across a range of
content and business applications.
FAST continues to enjoy increased market visibility and
recognition for its corporate growth and superior enterprise search
offerings. In Q1, the Company received a number of prominent awards
from leading search and IT industry media for the Company's
innovation and technology advancements, as well as its corporate
growth.
In January 2005, FAST held its second annual FAST Analyst Days
event in San Juan, Puerto Rico, bringing together over 20 industry
analysts covering the enterprise search market, as well as markets
including Business Intelligence, Knowledge Management, Enterprise
Content Management, Enterprise Resource Management (ERP), Storage,
and Mobile Telecom. This highly successful event further strengthened
and expanded FAST's visibility with a growing number of analysts
worldwide, as FAST demonstrated its technological strengths, market
vision and industry leadership in a variety of sectors, expanding the
notion of the size and potential of the enterprise search market.
In addition, a growing number of industry analyst groups,
including Gartner, IDC, Jupiter Research, The Patricia Seybold Group,
Ballardvale Research, The Delphi Group, AMR Research, The Kelsey
Group and The451.com continue to support and applaud the strategic
directions and innovative solutions that FAST continues to unveil to
the market.
Innovation
FAST continues to set the pace in the enterprise search space,
both from a technology and market perspective. In Q1 2005, FAST
unveiled FAST ProPublish(TM) and FAST mSearch(TM), two new Search
Derivative Applications (SDAs) that leverage the power of FAST ESP to
deliver enterprise search solutions for the publishing and mobile
markets respectively.
FAST ProPublish, the industry's first complete enterprise
search-based publication production management and delivery solution,
gives professional and business publishers a powerful solution for
gathering and processing data, resulting in the improved delivery of
job-critical information to both online and off-line users. It is
also the only solution that combines high-performance and scalability
with the intelligence, accuracy and extensibility needed to power the
complex search and navigation requirements of publishing and business
professionals.
FAST mSearch, the industry's first mobile search solution to
collectively integrate content such as music, games, ring tones, and
images with highly relevant content from the mobile Web, provides
users with an optimised and more personal search experience on their
mobile devices.
FAST's solutions have become a key enabler of exponential
innovation for our clients and partners in key areas such as Business
Intelligence (BI), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise
Content Management (ECM), Knowledge Management, and Storage. FAST is
rapidly becoming an essential component of content and data
infrastructure within corporate IT systems and its solutions are the
basis for knowledge management and transfer, content and data
integration, and information intelligence around the world.
The high profile product launches of FAST ProPublish and FAST
mSearch demonstrate our innovative and scalable technology, market
leadership, and the Company's increased focus upon delivering
solutions-focused product offerings. FAST is committed to delivering
a range of Enterprise Search-based solutions to the global business
market and accelerating the adoption of search technology by
providing customers a means of enabling product and service
innovation by harnessing the power of search.
Q2 2005 Business Focus
"While the global economy is still challenging, the demand for
Enterprise Search solutions is quite strong, and we are encouraged
that FAST continues to deliver the strongest financial results in the
market," added Lervik. "Our performance validates our approach to
delivering exceptionally strong technology with high customer
satisfaction, developing increased market recognition, and continuing
to strengthen our top-tier customer and partner base throughout
2005."
About FAST
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 elevates the search capabilities of
enterprise customers and connects people to the relevant information
they seek regardless of medium. This drives revenues and reduces
total cost of ownership by effectively leveraging IT infrastructure.
FAST's powerful enterprise search technology solutions are used by
more than 1,500 global customers and partners, including America
Online (AOL), AT&T, Cardinal Health, CareerBuilder.com, Chordiant,
CIGNA, CNET, Dell, Factiva, Fidelity Investments, Findexa,
FirstGov.gov (GSA), IBM, Knight Ridder, LexisNexis, Overture,
Rakuten, Reed Elsevier, Reuters, Sensis, Stellent, Tenet Healthcare,
Thomas Industrial Networks, T-Online, US Army, Virgilio (Telecom
Italia), Vodafone, and Wanadoo.
FAST is headquartered in Norway and is publicly traded under the
ticker symbol 'FAST' on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The FAST Group
operates globally with presence in Europe, the United States, Asia
Pacific, Australia, South America, and the Middle East. For further
information about FAST, please visit www.fastsearch.com.
(c) 2005 Fast Search & Transfer ASA - Fast Search & Transfer,
FAST, FAST ESP, FAST Data Search, FAST Marketrac, FAST AdVisor, FAST
InStream, FAST ImPulse, FAST Search Best Practices, FAST SBP, FAST
ProPublish, FAST mSearch 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.
http://www.fastsearch.com
OSLO, Norway, May 10 /PRNewswire/ --
http://hugin.info/134564/R/993514/150200.pdf

Contact:

Media Relations Contact: Peter Gorman, +1-781-304-2495,
Peter.Gorman@fastsearch.com; Investor Relations Contact: Ali I. Riaz,
CFO, +1-508-904-7429, Ali.Riaz@fastsearch.com

Plus de actualités: Fast Search & Transfer ASA
Plus de actualités: Fast Search & Transfer ASA
  • 20.04.2005 – 10:59

    District of Columbia Deploys FAST ESP Solution to Improve Public Safety and Homeland Security

    Oslo, Norway and Jackson, Michigan (ots/PRNewswire) - - Enterprise Search Solution to Be Deployed on Local, State, Regional and Federal Levels FAST Search & Transfer(TM) (FAST(TM)), the leading developer of enterprise search and real-time alerting technologies, today announced that the District of Columbia's Office of the Chief Technology Office (DC OCTO) ...

  • 19.04.2005 – 11:47

    Siebel Systems and FAST Form Long Term Partnership

    San Mateo, California and Oslo, Norway (ots/PRNewswire) - - Siebel to Integrate FAST InStream Throughout Its Product Offerings to Extend and Enable Innovative New Functionality Siebel Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SEBL), a leading provider of business applications software, and FAST Search & Transfer(TM) (FAST(TM)), the leading developer of enterprise search and real-time alerting technologies, today announced that ...

  • 30.03.2005 – 10:26

    ACIS Consulting Delivers RapidAnswer Search Solution for Customer Support

    Toronto, Canada and Oslo, Norway (ots/PRNewswire) - - RapidAnswer Becomes the First Partner-Designed and Developed Customer Support SDA Based Upon FAST's Powerful Enterprise Search Platform ACIS Consulting Inc, a leading Canadian reseller and systems integrator of powerful search solutions from Fast Search & Transfer(TM) (FAST(TM)), today announced the ...