ASTAWARE RELEASES FISCAL 2000 YEAR END RESULTS AND ANNOUNCES
NEW B2B E-CAT SOLUTION
Toronto, Ontario, Canada - June 19, 2000 -
ASTAware Technologies INC. ("ASTAware" / the
"Company") today announced its financial results for the year
ended January 31, 2000. The Company also unveiled its first business-to-business
electronic catalog solution, "E-CAT". ASTAware has re-engineered
its core search and retrieval technology and integrated it with
an ordering system and transaction processing capabilities, to
provide a complete B2B e-commerce solution. ASTAware's customers
can now migrate their product and service information to an electronic
format, first to CD or DVD, and then, gradually evolve their product
and service offerings to a fully, web-enabled, e-commerce solution,
using ASTAware's suite of products throughout the process.
Overview
During the past 12 months, management has strived to reshape and
refocus the Company, its products and solutions. The Company's
revenues decreased to $554,124 from $800,147 and incurred losses
were $1,028,000 for the year ended January 31, 2000. Gross profit
for the year ended January 31, 2000 was $494,191 as compared to
$742,358 for the year ended January 31, 1999, or 89% of sales
versus 93% from the previous year. The net loss from operations
was $0.10 per share versus $0.05 per share from the prior year.
Management has expended significant effort to re-engineer the
Company's core technology with a view to effectively positioning
ASTAware's solutions to meet the needs of the B2B marketplace.
ASTAware's E-CAT solution combines ASTAware's search and retrieval
technology with e-commerce technology, providing an electronic
catalog with product searching and ordering functionality integrated
within a CD-ROM/DVD and / or online. The integrated ordering system
keeps track of product names, product ID numbers, quantity, and
most importantly, cost. Moreover, the Company added significant
depth and bench strength to its management and development team.
Over the next year, these efforts are anticipated to generate
significant rewards for the Company.
During fiscal 2000, the Company invested $516,905 in software
development costs and research and development activities as compared
to $679,208 in fiscal 1999 reflecting the Company's commitment
to maintaining leading edge technology to meet the emerging needs
of the e-commerce marketplace. In fiscal 2000, total investment
in software development costs and research and development expenses
represented 93% of revenue as compared to 85% in fiscal 1999.
Revenues
Revenues decreased by 31% to $554,124 for the year ended January
31, 2000, as compared to $800,147 for the prior year. The decrease
in revenue is primarily due to the effect of the non-recurring
1999 special contracts, management's refocusing of its marketing
and development strategy to obtain high quality reference sites
and to introducing new solutions to meet the diverse needs of
the B2B and e-commerce market. During the year, the Company successfully
added several blue-chip clients to its roster including Hewlett
Packard, Qualcomm, Union Gas and Pacific Telecom and management
intends to build upon these relationships.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses include occupancy costs, salaries
and benefits of management and support staff, public company costs,
professional fees and other related costs.
General and administrative expenses increased by 18% to $678,491
for the year ended January 31, 2000, from $575,734 for the year
ended January 31, 1999. General and administrative expenses represented
122% of revenue for the fiscal 2000, as compared to 72% of revenue
for 1999, reflecting the additional costs incurred in building
the new infrastructure to support the Company's new marketing
strategy and solutions.
Selling and Marketing
Selling and marketing expenses are comprised of salaries and benefits
of sales and marketing staff, trade shows and other promotional
costs to support the sales and marketing activities.
Selling
and marketing expenses reduced to $172,745 from $186,205 for the year
ended January 31, 2000, a 7% reduction reflecting a more focused approach
to key customers and markets. Selling and marketing expenses represented
31% of revenue for the fiscal 2000, as compared to 23% of revenue for
1999.
Research
and Development
Research and development expenses are incurred to continuously improve
the product suite to meet customer requirements and market demands.
Research
and development expenses reduced from $172,233 for the year ended January
31, 1999 to $160,865 for the year ended January 31, 2000, a 7% reduction.
This decrease is attributable to the rationalization of operations and
the establishment of cost controls providing for the efficient management
of expenses, as well as being more targeted with development activities
for the B2B marketplace.
Financial
Condition, Liquidity and Capital Resources
The working capital deficiency as at January 31, 2000, is approximately
$609,590, as compared to working capital of $51,412 as at January 31,
1999. The decrease in working capital is attributable to the Company's
expanded investment in software development efforts. The Company improved
its cash flow from operations from a deficiency of $303,879 in fiscal
year 1999, to a positive operating cash flow of $41,384 in fiscal year
2000, reflecting significant operational and management improvements.
ASTAware invested $350,040 in research and development activities over
the year. The investment in research and development was financed by
cash generated from operations and an increase in notes payable.
Going
forward, the Company plans to raise additional monies through equity
financing for the funding of its objectives to expand its solution suite
to meet the needs of the B2B and e-commerce marketplace and to aggressively
expand its marketing and sales capacity.
STATEMENT
OF OPERATIONS
|
FOR
YEAR ENDED JANUARY 31
|
2000 |
1999 |
|
|
|
|
|
SALES
|
$
554,124 |
$
800,147 |
|
|
|
|
|
COST
OF SALES
|
59,933 |
57,609 |
|
|
|
|
|
GROSS
PROFIT
|
494,191 |
742,538 |
|
|
|
|
|
OPERATING
EXPENSES
|
|
|
|
General
and administrative
|
678,491 |
575,734 |
|
Selling
and marketing
|
172,745 |
186,205 |
|
Amortization
|
396,538 |
265,868 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1,247,774 |
1,027,807 |
|
|
|
|
|
LOSS
– Before undernoted items
|
(753,583) |
(285,269) |
|
|
|
|
|
Research
and development expenses
|
(160,865) |
(172,233) |
|
Interest
and financing expenses
|
(114,163) |
(57,491) |
|
Interest
income
|
– |
7,381 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(275,028) |
(222,343) |
|
|
|
|
|
NET
LOSS
|
$
(1,028,611) |
$
(507,612) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LOSS
PER SHARE
|
$
(0.10) |
$ (0.05) |
Annual
Meeting
The Company will hold its Annual General Meeting on Friday, July 28,
2000, in the Brule Room, Toronto Board of Trade, 1 First Canadian Place,
Toronto, Ontario, to begin at 9:00 a.m. (Toronto time).
ASTAware
is a leading provider of B2B solutions including E-CAT, a solution that
combines ASTAware's cutting edge index, search and retrieval software
with e-commerce technology to produce an electronic catalog with product
searching and ordering functionality integrated within a CD-ROM/DVD
and/or online. The Company's information retrieval solutions include;
SearchKey API; SearchKey PRO; and SearchDisc. ASTAware's current licensees
include Hewlett Packard, IBM, Lockheed Martin Tactical Systems (UK),
Qualcomm, Siemens Telecom Networks, Silicon Graphics, Sun Microsystems,
Transport Canada and Veritas and the Company presently provides Information
Management Solutions including database conversion and archiving to
Ontario Hydro and Rogers Media, to name but a few. For more information
on ASTAware's products and services, contact the company at its websites: http://www.astaware.com, http://www.searchkey.com, or e-mail: ejewell@astaware.com.
