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Firepond Reports First Quarter Fiscal Year 2003 Financial ResultsMINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 26, 2003--Firepond, Inc. (Nasdaq: FIRE - News), a leading provider of sales configuration and email response management systems, today announced results for its first quarter ended January 31, 2003. For the first quarter, Firepond reported total revenue of $3.8 million as compared to $4.4 million in the prior quarter and $7.5 million for the same period in the prior year. Deferred revenue was $5.4 million as compared to $6.0 million at the prior quarter end. The company ended the quarter with $25.6 million in cash and marketable securities. Firepond reported a net loss for the quarter of $717,000 as compared to net income of $571,000 in the prior quarter and a net loss of $11.0 million for the same period last year. Net loss per share was $0.19 for the quarter as compared to net income per share of $0.15 in the prior quarter and a net loss per share of $3.03 for the same period in the prior year. The prior quarter net income reflects a one-time restructuring charge reversal of $2.5 million. Highlights from the Quarter In November, Firepond released for general availability version 8.0 of its eServicePerformer(TM) email response management system. With the latest version, the product now supports language recognition, natural language processing and automated outbound email creation for Asian languages that use double-byte characters, such as Chinese. In addition, the new version includes several enhanced agent desktop integration capabilities and an expanded natural language processing library. In January, Firepond's eServicePerformer was named a 2002 "Product of the Year" by Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine. The award marks the third consecutive year Firepond has been recognized for demonstrating significant technological advancements and application refinements in the area of online customer service. In January, Firepond also delivered a beta version of the next release of its Insurance SalesPerformer(TM) broker selling system. The new version, which was released for general availability earlier this month, includes a number of customer-specific enhancements to the user interface, further reduces the time required for deployment, and extends support for additional application servers and databases. Conference Call Information Firepond will host a conference call to discuss its quarterly earnings today at 5:00 p.m. EST. The dial-in number in the U.S. is (877) 691-0877; international callers should dial (973) 582-2741. This event will also be broadcast live over the web at the investor relations section of the Firepond web site (www.firepond.com) and will be archived there until the next quarterly release of results. About Firepond, Inc. Firepond, Inc. (www.firepond.com) is a leading provider of sales configuration and email response management systems. Firepond's SalesPerformer sales configuration system, which is sold as a complete system or as modules to address specific business issues, helps reduce the cost of selling complex products and services across multiple sales channels. The company's global blue-chip customer base for its SalesPerformer product line includes Amada, Cummins Power Generation, Deere & Company, Freightliner, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Honda, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, Renault Trucks, Scania, Siemens Building Technologies, Steelcase International, and Toshiba Machine. Firepond's eServicePerformer email response management system leverages advanced intelligence engines and natural language processing technology to manage the full range of a company's online customer interaction channels, with an emphasis on email. Firepond's global customer base for its eServicePerformer product line includes Abbey National, AT&T Wireless, Best Buy, Cendant Mortgage, Royal Sun Alliance, Ticketmaster, and Virgin Mobile. Portions of this release contain forward-looking statements regarding future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. We wish to caution you that there are some factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results indicated by such statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: economic and other factors affecting the demand for e-business sales and service solutions; difficulties with the implementation and integration of Firepond products; market acceptance of Firepond's SalesPerformer and eServicePerformer Suites and their components in chosen vertical industries; uncertainty, costs, and potential damages associated with material litigation; our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; quarterly fluctuations in operating results attributable to the timing and amount of orders for our products and services; our ability to keep pace with changing product requirements; difficulties and financial burdens associated with acquisitions; and other risks detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Form 10-K filed in January and Forms 10-Q filed in March, June, and September copies of which may be obtained through the SEC's website at. www.sec.gov. Firepond and Firepond product names are trademarks of Firepond, Inc. All other product or company names are the properties of their respective owners. Editorial Contact: Eric Snow Firepond, Inc. (U.S.) (781) 487-8441 eric.snow@firepond.com top of page |
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