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AUTONOMY CORPORATION PLC ANNOUNCES RESULTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER ENDED MARCH 31, 2005
Record Q1 Revenues up 13% and Profit Before Tax up 113% year-on-year
Autonomy's first quarter conference call will be available live on the World Wide Web at www.autonomy.com on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 at 9:30 a.m. BST/4:30 a.m. EST/1:30 a.m. PST
CAMBRIDGE, England - April 20, 2005 - Autonomy Corporation plc (LSE: AU. or AUTN.L), a global leader in infrastructure software for the extended enterprise, today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2005.
Financial Highlights
| Three Months Ended | ||
| (unaudited) | ||
| Results in US$ | March 31, 2005 |
March 31, 2004 |
| ($000's except per share) | $'000 | $'000 |
| Revenues | 18,529 | 16,364 |
| Gross profit (adjusted)* | 17,734 | 15,594 |
| Gross profit margin (adjusted)* | 96% | 95% |
| Profit before tax (adjusted)* | 4,404 | 2,692 |
| Net profit (adjusted)* | 3,204 | 2,241 |
| Gross profit (IFRS)** | 17,522 | 15,379 |
| Gross profit margin (IFRS) | 95% | 94% |
| Profit before tax (IFRS) | 3,818 | 1,791 |
| Net profit (IFRS) | 2,693 | 1,515 |
| EPS | ||
| - basic (adjusted)* | $ 0.03 | $ 0.02 |
| - diluted (adjusted)* | $ 0.03 | $ 0.02 |
| - basic (IFRS) | $ 0.02 | $ 0.01 |
| - diluted (IFRS) | $ 0.02 | $ 0.01 |
* Adjusted results exclude charges not reflective of Autonomy's core ongoing operational business, namely the amortization of purchased intangibles, share-based compensation and non-cash translational foreign exchange gains and losses and associated tax effects. See pages 3 and 5 for further details.
** See page 8 for discussion regarding required shift from U.S. GAAP to International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") and reconciliation between IFRS and U.S. GAAP.
First Quarter 2005 Highlights
- Revenues and profits considerably ahead of consensus estimates and above the range discussed during the Company's fourth quarter 2004 conference call
- Record Q1 revenues, up 13% year-on-year, driven by strong organic growth
- Record Q1 profit before tax, up 113% year-on-year
- Twenty-first consecutive quarter of profitability
- Continued adoption of IDOL 5.0 leading to extremely high competitive win rate
- Gross margins remain high at 95%
- Blue chip first quarter wins include AOL, Nokia, Vodafone, Hutchison 3G, Associated Press, Louis Vuitton, the BBC, FranceTV 2, as well as various government, defence and intelligence agencies in the U.S. and around the globe
- License revenues up 36% year-on-year
- Average selling price up slightly to $415,000
- Operating margins up 54% year-on-year
- Unveiled Autonomy's new IDOL IP Television Suite, supporting the delivery of video on demand and bringing the power of Autonomy's award-winning enterprise technology to television, video and audio assets across the Internet
- OEM revenues up approximately 7% year-on-year, with program accounting for approximately 17% of revenue
Commenting on the results, Dr. Mike Lynch, group CEO of Autonomy said, "We are pleased to announce Autonomy's continued strong performance with record Q1 results, and revenues and profits ahead of the top-end of the market consensus range. This has been achieved despite a historic pattern of Q1 being seasonally less strong than the preceding Q4."
Dr. Lynch continued, "The success in Q1 2005 is driven by strong organic growth and follows on from a similarly strong performance in Q4 2004. Our strong sales results were underpinned by continued adoption of our IDOL 5.0 resulting in a superb win rate over competitors as the limitations of legacy keyword search technologies continue to be exposed. Q1 2005 wins included multiple sales to AOL for search and rich media processing, with Autonomy selected over previously chosen technology; Nokia replacing a legacy technology and won over other keyword technologies which could not scale security handling; and extended enterprise standard contracts with Vodafone, for new applications and thousands of new users; and Hutchison 3G, bringing the power of Autonomy to their 3G handsets in Ireland. The high operational gearing inherent in our business model has ensured that operating margins have surged as revenues have grown with the consequential beneficial effect on our bottom line performance."
Dr. Lynch concluded, "We're also quite pleased that this morning we announced an agreement to acquire etalk Corporation, a U.S.-based leading provider of contact center software solutions that improve the quality of customer interactions. For more details please see the accompanying press release. The transaction will further extend Autonomy's IDOL 5.0 platform into the contact center software market, enabling etalk's customer base of over 1,500 contact centers and 35 of the Fortune 100 companies to gain access to the world's leading technology, offering them a competitive edge over any other solution, based on Autonomy's unique ability to understand the content of the call."
First Quarter 2005 Financial Highlights
Revenues for the first quarter totalled $18.5 million, up 13% from $16.4 million for the first quarter of 2004. U.S./Asia Pac revenues of $9.0 million were 48% of total revenues and U.K./European revenues totalling $9.6 million were 52% of total revenues in the first quarter of 2005.
Gross profits (adjusted) for the quarter were $17.7 million, up 13% from $15.6 million in the first quarter of 2004. First quarter gross margins (adjusted) were 96%, compared to 95% in the first quarter of 2004. Gross profits (IFRS) for the quarter were $17.5 million, up 13% from $15.4 million in the first quarter of 2004. First quarter gross margins (IFRS) were 95%, compared to 94% in the first quarter of 2004.
Net profit (adjusted) for the first quarter of 2005 was $3.2 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, compared to net profit (adjusted) of $2.2 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2004. Net profit (IFRS) for the first quarter of 2005 was $2.7 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, compared to net profit (IFRS) of $1.5 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2004.
Cash balances were $104.6 million at March 31, 2005, a decrease of $2.2 million in the quarter reflecting a combination of operational cash inflow offset by share repurchases and translational foreign exchange effects. During the quarter Autonomy continued its share repurchase program, purchasing for cancellation 326,359 shares at an average price of £1.93 per share. In total, Autonomy has purchased for cancellation 20,730,241 million shares at an average price of £1.64 per share. Accounts receivable days sales outstanding increased to 122 days for the first quarter of 2005, compared to 104 days for the first quarter of 2004. Receivables for the first quarter were $25.6 million, compared to $20.4 million for the first quarter of 2004. Deferred revenues were at $5.8 million net at March 31, 2005, compared with $6.4 million net at March 31, 2004.
Although GAAP disclosure provides investors and management with an overall view of Autonomy's financial performance, Autonomy believes that it is important for investors to also understand the performance of Autonomy's core business, such as the sale of its software products and services and operating profits without giving effect to certain specific non-cash charges. Consequently, the non-GAAP results exclude charges not reflective of Autonomy's core ongoing operational business, namely the amortization of purchased intangibles, share-based compensation and non-cash translational foreign exchange gains and losses and associated tax effects. Management uses the adjusted results to assess the financial performance of Autonomy's core business.
Q1 Product Sales
Autonomy's infrastructure technology has been adopted by enterprises to process information across all internal and external data sources. During the quarter, major new wins included: Nokia, Associated Press, Louis Vuitton, Finmeccanica, HBO, Houston Chronicle and New York Magazine. Repeat business from existing customers accounted for approximately 30% of revenue for the quarter, and included customers such as AOL, Vodafone, Watson Wyatt, Hutchison 3G Ireland, Danske Bank, the BBC, FranceTV 2 and State Farm Insurance, as well as various governmental and intelligence agencies such as U.K. Royal Air Force, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Shanghai local government and U.S. National Archives.
Strategic Partnerships and OEMs
Autonomy's OEM Program was on target during the first quarter with OEM-derived revenues for the first quarter of 2005 of $3.2 million accounting for approximately 17% of revenues, compared to $3.0 million for the first quarter of 2004, and new OEM agreements with major software companies.
Q1 Corporate Developments
During the first quarter Autonomy unveiled its new IDOL IP Television Suite, supporting the delivery of video on demand and bringing the power of Autonomy's award-winning enterprise technology to television, video and audio assets across the Internet. Autonomy's new IDOL IPTV Suite allows the automatic processing and retrieval of television, video and audio content, from any source including over-the-air broadcasts and free internet content, has already been successfully implemented by internet search specialist blinkx in their internet TV service at http://www.blinkx.tv/. Also during the first quarter Autonomy's Aungate division, Autonomy's award-winning division specializing in compliance, litigation and risk technology, extended its product suite with the addition of the 'Ijen Module' to power fraud analysis and money laundering detection.
Also during the first quarter Autonomy was recognized in multiple ways for its market leadership and unmatched technology. Autonomy was selected as one of KM World's "Top 100 Companies that Matter in Knowledge Management" for the fifth straight year. As selected by KM World's editorial staff, the Top 100 identifies companies who are leading the way in knowledge management through their velocity of innovation and impact on the market in 2005. Finally, Autonomy's Audentify division, a leading provider of next-generation contact center technology, was awarded 2004 Product of the Year Award by Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC™)'s Customer Inter@ction Solutions Magazine, the publications' highest honor recognizing exemplary contributions and innovative products that advance the call center and CRM industry.
About Autonomy Corporation plc
Autonomy Corporation plc (LSE: AU. or AUTN.L) is a global leader in infrastructure software for the enterprise. Autonomy's technology powers applications dependent upon unstructured information including call center, customer relationship management, knowledge management, enterprise portals, enterprise resource planning, online publishing and security applications. Autonomy's customer base includes more than 1,000 global companies including BAE Systems, Ford, Ericsson, Royal Sun Alliance, Sun Microsystems and public sector agencies including the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy. Strategic reseller and OEM partners include leading companies such as ATG, BEA, Business Objects, Citrix, Computer Associates, EDS, IBM Global Services, Novell, Novient, Veritas, Vignette, Supportsoft and Sybase. The company has offices worldwide.
The Autonomy Group includes: Aungate, a leading supplier of electronic communications management technology for regulatory compliance in the enterprise; Audentify, a leading supplier of next-generation contact center technology; and Virage, a leading provider of rich media communication and content management software.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
With the exception of historical information, the matters set forth in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. A number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, among others, technology risks, including dependence on core technology; fluctuations in quarterly results; dependence on new product development; rapid technological and market change; reliance on sales by others; management of growth; dependence on key personnel; rapid expansion; growth of the Internet; financial risk management; and future growth subject to risks. These factors and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially are also discussed in the company's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including Autonomy's latest Annual Report on Form 20-F.
Autonomy and the Autonomy logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autonomy Corporation plc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
| Financial Media Contacts: | Analyst and Investor Contacts: |
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Edward Bridges Financial Dynamics +44 (0)20 7831 3113 |
Sushovan Hussain, Chief Financial Officer Autonomy Corporation plc +44 (0)1223 448 000 |
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