REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SupportSoft (Company
Profile, Past
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Studies), Inc. (Nasdaq: SPRT - News), a leading provider of Real-Time Service Management (RTSM(TM)) software, today reported financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2004.
Revenue for the third quarter 2004 was $12.2 million, a 10% decrease from $13.5 million for the same period last year and a 28% decrease from $16.9 million for the previous quarter. On a GAAP basis, net loss for the quarter was $332,000 or $0.01 loss per diluted share, including a $1.6 million non-recurring charge related to the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Core Networks Incorporated. This compares with net income of $2.6 million or $0.07 per diluted share a year ago and net income of $4.9 million or $0.11 per diluted share for the previous quarter. Cash and short-term investments at September 30, 2004 were $116.4 million. During the third quarter, cash and short-term investments decreased by approximately $11.6 million, however this decrease included approximately $16.8 million paid for Core Networks.
"I am disappointed in our overall performance and our failure to deliver license revenue results that investors are accustomed to," said Radha Basu, CEO and Chairman of SupportSoft. "A hallmark of SupportSoft has been our ability to execute in the face of an extremely challenging economic environment and consistently grow both the top line and bottom line. With our solid foundation of products and technologies, blue-chip customer base and financial discipline, I am confident that we will get back on track and continue to make our customers successful."
Recent Highlights:
-- SupportSoft received orders from 5 new customers and 17 existing
customers, including 11 enterprise customers and 11 digital service
providers. Three of these orders were for more than $1 million,
including a renewal for more than $2 million.
-- SupportSoft received orders from customers including 3M, ADP, American
Express, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications,
Microsoft, TDC Solutions, and UPC.
-- Two leading North American and European providers of DSL-based voice,
video and data services each selected SupportSoft solutions for
installation of high-speed data services and reduction of customer
service calls through the automation of on-going customer support for
their high-speed data subscribers.
-- On a global basis, SupportSoft now counts 17 leading cable and DSL
high-speed data providers that have selected SupportSoft's installation
and service automation solutions, representing more than 20 million
subscribers.
-- SupportSoft completed the acquisition of Core Networks and announced
four new products: ServiceGateway(TM), ServicePolicy(TM),
netConfiguration(TM), and netMeter(TM). These new products are based
on technology from Core Networks and, combined with technology from
SupportSoft, provide for the management, diagnosis and resolution of
problems in the last network mile and at customer premises' equipment.
-- SupportSoft announced its Digital 360 vision to assist digital
service providers with new service delivery challenges for IP-based
services. A key element of this vision is SupportSoft's ServiceVerify
for IP platform. This new platform will serve as the basis for
products which assist service providers in the installation and
on-going verification of service quality for IP-based services
including voice, video and data.
Guidance
Based on the Company's expectations and current market conditions, SupportSoft expects revenues to be between $14.2 million and $14.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2004. Earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 2004 are expected to be in the range of $0.01 to $0.03. The Company's guidance for full year 2004 is for revenues in the range of $59.0 to $59.7 million. Earnings per share for the full year 2004 are expected to be between $0.20 and $0.22.
Earnings Call
SupportSoft will host a conference call discussing the Company's third quarter results on Wednesday, October 20, 2004 starting at 2:00 p.m. PDT. A live webcast of the call will be available on the Investor Relations section of the Company's web site at www.supportsoft.com/investors. For those unable to listen to the live webcast, a replay of the call will also be available on the SupportSoft website, or by dialing 888-203-1112 and entering passcode 977372.
About SupportSoft
SupportSoft is a leading provider of Real-Time Service Management (RTSM(TM)) software designed to ease enterprise technical support, provide for IT endpoint automation and enable triple play service automation for VoIP, video or broadband delivery by service providers to their customers. Digital service providers benefiting from SupportSoft solutions include Adelphia Communications, BellSouth, Charter Communications, Comcast Communications, Cox Communications, Time Warner, TeliaSonera and UPC. Enterprises that have licensed SupportSoft software for IT requirements include ADP, Bank of America, Cisco Systems, IBM, Procter & Gamble, Siebel Systems, Sony and Thomson Financial. Managed service providers that utilize our solutions to provide outsourced services to their enterprise customers include Accenture, ACS, CGI, CompuCom, CSC and IBM Global Services.
Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements may be identified by terminology such as may, will, could, should, anticipate and expect and the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. These are statements that relate to future events and include, but are not limited to SupportSoft's intention to make customers successful and get back on track, the expected benefits and usage of SupportSoft's products, SupportSoft's Digital 360 vision and statements relating to future revenues and earnings per share. Forward- looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in these forward- looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: SupportSoft's ability to achieve broad adoption and acceptance of its Real-Time Service Management products and services, the potential for a decrease in revenue caused by a reliance on a few large transactions in any period, judgment by management, based upon performance, to release a portion of a deferred tax asset resulting in a credit to tax expenses, its ability to expand its international operations, its ability to manage growth effectively, the ability of its software to operate with hardware and software platforms that are used by its customers now or in the future, its ability to compete successfully in the real-time service management market, long sales cycles, diversion of management attention and difficulty in integrating acquired businesses and technologies, system failures that may cause an interruption in its customers' ability to use its products or services, the ability to obtain sufficient patent protection, the uncertain economic conditions in the United States and in international markets as well as other risks detailed from time to time in its SEC filings, including those described in the section "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations -- Other Factors Affecting our Business and Operating Results" in its Quarterly Report on Form 10- Q . Statements included in this release are based upon information known to SupportSoft as of the date of this release, and SupportSoft assumes no obligation to update information contained in this press release.
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