Live Current Media Inc. Reports Record Revenues for the 2007 Fiscal Year
* Reuters is not responsible for the content in this press release.
Company Builds Strong Senior Management Team, Invests in Creating
a Foundation to Rapidly Scale its Content and Commerce Business
VANCOUVER--(Business Wire)--
Communicate.com Inc. d.b.a Live Current Media Inc. (OTCBB:CMNN), a
media company built around content and commerce destinations, today
announced financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year
ended December 31, 2007. All results are reported in US Dollars under
United States generally accepted accounting principles (US GAAP). The
financial results for the fourth quarter are extrapolated from the
Company's unaudited financial statements. The financial results for
the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007 are extrapolated from the
Company's audited financial statements and should be read in
conjunction with the Company's December 31, 2007 financial statements
and related notes included in its annual report on SEC Form 10-KSB.
Select Fiscal 2007 Highlights and Corporate Developments:
-- Appointed Geoffrey Hampson as CEO and Chairman of the Board,
Jonathan Ehrlich as President and COO, and Mark Melville as
Chief Corporate Development Officer replacing the former
senior management team with these experienced managers and
entrepreneurs with proven track records in creating
shareholder value.
-- Appointed James P. Taylor, CPA, to the Board of Directors and
elected him Chairman of the Audit Committee, and Mark Benham
to the Board of Directors. The appointment of these Directors
reflects the Company's desire to ensure competent and
knowledgeable individuals are on the Board of Directors to
assist and guide management.
-- Closed two non-brokered private placements of common shares:
$1 Million from new CEO Geoff Hampson and a subsequent
placement of $5.1 Million at $2 per share. Participants in the
$5.1 Million financing included institutional investors as
well as Live Current CEO, Geoffrey Hampson and President &
COO, Jonathan Ehrlich.
-- Launched a new website for Perfume.com to fuel organic growth.
-- Regained total control of the Company's valuable travel and
country domains.
Subsequent Growth-Focused Developments:
-- Signed strategic agreement with Wanderspot to design and build
select online sites including travel-focused destinations:
Brazil.com, Indonesia.com, Malaysia.com and Vietnam.com.
-- Appointed Dr. Boris Wertz, known Internet pioneer to the Board
of Directors, further establishing a Board with operational
and management experience in the consumer Internet space.
-- Entered into a binding agreement to acquire Auctomatic, a new
commerce platform, and add experienced product and technology
development team to the Company.
Geoffrey Hampson, CEO and Chairman of Live Current stated, "2007
reflected a year of major shifts as we put necessary changes in action
to bring us much closer to our goal of creating a top echelon content
and commerce Company. Since joining the Company in June of 2007, I
have been focused on building a world class team to turn our valuable
real estate into some of the best, most highly trafficked and
profitable consumer destinations on the Internet. Since June, Jonathan
Ehrlich and Mark Melville have joined our management team and James
Taylor, Mark Benham and Boris Wertz have joined our Board of
Directors. All of these individuals have a wealth of experience and
each brings a different skill set which adds significant value to Live
Current Media."
Mr. Hampson continued, "More recently we signed an agreement with
Wanderspot and entered into a binding agreement to acquire Auctomatic,
both actions bring tremendous value to the Company through their
technology and industry experience. The anticipated acquisition of
Auctomatic brings us a talented group of individuals well versed in
social media applications and commerce technology that will be
evaluated for the most advantageous integration within our
destinations. We are excited to have these relationships in place to
drive us toward our goals in 2008."
On the subject of top-line revenue and investing for the future,
Mr. Hampson stated, "Through the end of the 2007 year, the Company was
generating 90% of its revenue from one single destination:
Perfume.com. Perfume.com extensively over-performed compared to last
year and we are now positioned to enhance this revenue-driving
destination and quickly build and monetize our other powerful
destinations including sites in the travel, sports, and health and
beauty segments. The opportunity presented by scaling from focusing on
one primary destination to building out many subject-specific,
consumer-facing sites brings a reality to the strategy that we have
put in place."
Full Year 2007 Financial Results
Total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2007 increased 17%
to $9.1 million compared to $7.8 million for the same period in 20061.
During the 2007 fiscal year, the Company began executing on its
strategy for growth focused on building its content and commerce
destinations. As such, there were no domain names sold as opposed to
selling Vancover.com and Wrestling.com for $623,800 in 2006. Ecommerce
sales represented the majority of sales and increased 15% to $8.6
million in 2007 compared to $7.5 million in 2006.
Cost of sales for 2007 increased 13% to $7.0 million compared to
$6.2 million in 2006. This increase is in line with the growth of
sales over the same period. Gross profit for 2007 increased 24% to
$2.1 million compared to $1.7 million for 2006. Gross margins for 2007
were 23% compared to 21% for 2006. In 2007, the Company was successful
in providing attractive customer discounts while controlling costs.
In 2007, the Company experienced higher expenses compared to 2006.
General and administrative expenses totaled $1.0 million, an increase
of 83% compared to $550,110 in 2006. This increase was due to
increased server hosting fees, audit and legal fees, recruiting costs
to attract new management and expenditures associated with investor
relations and equity financing. Management fees and employee salaries
also increased year over year due to the new management team members
brought on during 2007 totaling $2.0 million, an increase of 85%
compared to $1.1 million in 2006. These totals include stock based
compensation. The Company believes that the increase in these costs
were necessary to build the appropriate corporate infrastructure to
manage and service future growth and position the Company for
accelerated growth in the future.
The Company also incurred various one-time costs relating to
restructuring and the recruiting and relocating costs associated with
attracting the new management team as well as a severance package for
an outgoing senior management team member. Total other expenses for
2007 were $637,730 compared to $0 for 2006.
The Company also acquired Internet traffic by paying-for-clicks,
search-engine-placements and affiliate marketing. In 2007 marketing
expenses increased 141% to $817,101 compared to $339,505 in 2006.
Marketing expenses will continue to grow in the future as management
is focused on investing in tools and resources to drive more traffic
to the key destination sites.
The Company reported a net loss for 2007 of $2.0 million or a loss
of $0.11 per basic and diluted share compared to a net income of
$414,437 or $0.02 per basic and diluted share for 2006. The net loss
was primarily attributable to the various growth related expenses and
one-time costs incurred during the year as discussed above.
From a balance sheet perspective, the Company reported total
assets of $9.6 million and total liabilities of $1.9 million resulting
in shareholders' equity of $7.7 million up from $3.1 million in
shareholders' equity in 2006. The Company improved its current ratio
significantly to 4.07 to 1 for the period ended December 31, 2007
compared to 2.43 to 1 for the period ended December 31, 2006. Cash and
cash equivalents for the period ended December 31, 2007 totaled $7.4
million compared to $2.1 million for the same period in 2006.
1 *COMPARATIVE FIGURES: Certain comparative figures have been
reclassified in order to conform to the current year's consolidated
financial statement presentation.
Fourth Quarter 2007 Financial Results
The fourth quarter of 2007 was the highest revenue quarter in the
Company's history, totaling $4 million, an increase of 24% compared to
$3.2 million for the same period in 2006. This increase was primarily
due to strong product sales during the holiday season from Perfume.com
following the refresh to the Perfume.com site. For the fourth quarter
of 2007, ecommerce sales represented 95% of revenues totaling $3.7
million compared to 98% and $3.1 million for the fourth quarter of
2006.
Cost of sales for the fourth quarter of 2007 totaled $3.2 million
compared to $2.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2006, an increase
of 23%, which is in line with our growth in sales over the same
period. Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2007 increased 29% to
$770,799 compared to $599,068 for the same period in 2006. Gross
margin for the fourth quarter of 2007 was 20% compared to a gross
margin of 19% for the same period in 2006.
The Company reported a net loss of $1.3 million or a loss of $0.06
per basic and diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to
a net income of $26,157 for the fourth quarter of 2006. As we
mentioned earlier, there were increased growth related expenses and
one-time costs incurred during the fourth quarter which affected the
net income of the Company.
Mr. Hampson continued, "We have put the majority of the
re-structuring costs behind us and are now in an excellent position to
capitalize on the combined experience of the new team and the
incredible potential of the Company's assets. Looking forward to 2008,
we are focused on building upon the foundation we have laid out in
2007 for a rapidly scaling media business around our content and
commerce destinations. Although our financial results for the fourth
quarter and 2007 showed a loss, we continued to add the necessary
building blocks for future success. We are encouraged by the growing
sales of our flagship commerce property Perfume.com, which clearly
exhibits the power of a great domain name. The new team at Live
Current Media is now positioned to focus on Perfume.com as well as our
other valuable real estate including Cricket.com to become the leaders
in creating and monetizing next-generation consumer Internet
experiences called DestinationHubs(TM)."
Detailed information regarding Live Current's 2007 financial
results can be found in the Company's annual report on Form 10-KSB,
which has been filed with the SEC and is available through the
investor section of Live Current's corporate website, at
http://livecurrent.com/investors.php.
About Live Current Media Inc.
Communicate.com Inc. is doing business as "Live Current Media
Inc." and will seek formal shareholder approval to change its legal
name to Live Current Media Inc. later in 2008.
Live Current builds, owns and operates some of the most powerful
and engaging content and commerce destinations on the Internet.
Through subject-specific DestinationHubs(TM), Live Current properties
connect people to each other and to the information, brands, and
products they are passionate about. Live Current has headquarters in
Vancouver, Canada with a location in Seattle, WA and is publicly
traded on the NASD OTCBB (CMNN). For more information, visit
www.livecurrent.com.
Safe Harbor: Certain statements contained in this press release
may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although
Communicate.com Inc. d.b.a Live Current Media Inc. believes the
expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on
reasonable assumptions; it can give no assurance that its expectations
will be attained. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from expectations include financial performance, regulatory
changes, changes in economic conditions and other risks detailed from
time to time in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included in this
press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this
press release. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update
any forward-looking statements, and readers are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
The following selected financial data was derived from the
Company's unaudited consolidated financial statements. The information
set forth below should be read in conjunction with the Company's
financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in its
annual report on SEC Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2007.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
Fourth Quarters Ended December 31, 2007 and 2006
-0-
*T
Quarter Quarter
Ended Ended
December December
31, 2007 31, 2006
----------------------------------------------------------------------
SALES
$ $
ECommerce 3,744,465 3,117,975
Domain name leasing and advertising 180,956 71,389
Miscellaneous income 35,810 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Sales 3,961,231 3,189,364
----------------------------------------------------------------------
COST OF SALES
ECommerce 3,190,432 2,590,296
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Cost of Sales 3,190,432 2,590,296
----------------------------------------------------------------------
GROSS PROFIT 770,799 599,068
----------------------------------------------------------------------
EXPENSES
Amortization and depreciation 20,080 3,521
General and administrative 447,478 180,281
Management fees and employee salaries 884,998 280,147
Marketing 460,074 124,132
Other expenses 637,730 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Expenses 2,450,360 588,081
----------------------------------------------------------------------
LOSS BEFORE OTHER ITEMS (1,679,561) 10,987
Interest and investment income 61,925 12,873
Gain on disposal of subsidiary of
Frequenttraveler.com Inc. 276,805 -
Non-controlling interest share of loss in
Frequenttraveler.com Inc. - 2,297
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NET INCOME (LOSS) AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME $ $
(LOSS) FOR THE PERIOD (1,340,831) 26,157
----------------------------------------------------------------------
$ $
BASIC AND DILUTED EARNINGS (LOSS) PER SHARE (0.06) 0.00
======================================================================
WEIGHTED AVERAGE NUMBER OF COMMON
SHARES OUTSTANDING - BASIC AND DILUTED 21,389,558 17,836,339
======================================================================
*T
The following selected financial data was derived from the
Company's audited consolidated financial statements. The information
set forth below should be read in conjunction with the Company's
financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in its
annual report on SEC Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2007.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
Years Ended December 31, 2007 and 2006
-0-
*T
Year Ended Year Ended
December December
31, 2007 31, 2006
----------------------------------------------------------------------
SALES
$ $
eCommerce 8,593,811 7,476,203
Domain name leasing and advertising 449,613 312,792
Miscellaneous income 35,810 21,673
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Sales 9,079,234 7,810,668
----------------------------------------------------------------------
COST OF SALES
eCommerce 7,021,473 6,155,568
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Cost of Sales 7,021,473 6,155,568
----------------------------------------------------------------------
GROSS PROFIT 2,057,761 1,655,100
----------------------------------------------------------------------
EXPENSES
Amortization and depreciation 29,169 15,277
General and administrative 1,007,038 550,110
Management fees and employee salaries 1,981,051 1,069,157
Marketing 817,101 339,505
Other expenses 637,730 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Expenses 4,472,089 1,974,049
----------------------------------------------------------------------
LOSS BEFORE OTHER ITEMS (2,414,328) (318,949)
Royalty settlement - 250,000
Net proceeds from sales of domain names - 432,788
Interest and investment income 119,574 48,301
Gain on disposal of subsidiary of
Frequenttraveler.com Inc. 276,805 -
Non-controlling interest share of loss in
Frequenttraveler.com Inc. - 2,297
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NET INCOME (LOSS) AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME $ $
(LOSS) FOR THE YEAR (2,017,949) 414,437
----------------------------------------------------------------------
$ $
BASIC AND DILUTED EARNINGS (LOSS) PER SHARE (0.11) 0.02
======================================================================
WEIGHTED AVERAGE NUMBER OF COMMON
SHARES OUTSTANDING - BASIC AND DILUTED 19,070,236 17,786,339
======================================================================
*T
BALANCE SHEET
As at December 31, 2007 and 2006
-0-
*T
2007 2006
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ASSETS
Current
$ $
Cash and cash equivalents 7,375,245 2,105,340
Restricted cash - 20,000
Available for sale securities - 261,912
Accounts receivable 138,930 21,206
Prepaid expenses 246,174 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total current assets 7,760,349 2,408,458
Property & equipment 175,797 45,032
Intangible assets 1,645,061 1,645,061
----------------------------------------------------------------------
$ $
Total Assets 9,581,207 4,098,551
======================================================================
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current
$ $
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities 1,756,719 991,855
Deferred revenue 53,079 -
Current portion of deferred lease inducements 20,138 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total current liabilities 1,829,936 991,855
Deferred lease inducements 75,518 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Liabilities 1,905,454 991,855
======================================================================
STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Common stock
Authorized: 50,000,000 common shares,
$0.001 par value
Issued and outstanding:
21,446,623 common shares (December 31, 2006
- 17,836,339) 12,456 8,846
Additional paid-in capital 10,188,975 3,605,579
Accumulated deficit (2,525,678) (507,729)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Stockholders' Equity 7,675,753 3,106,696
----------------------------------------------------------------------
$ $
Total Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity 9,581,207 4,098,551
======================================================================
*T
Company Contact:
Live Current Media Inc.
Adam Rabiner
Director, Investor Relations
(604) 453-4875 or 1-866-898-4354
adam@livecurrent.com
or
Investor Contact:
Alliance Advisors, LLC
Mark McPartland
Vice President
(910) 221-1827
markmcp@allianceadvisors.net
or
Media Contact:
Live Current Media Inc.
Becky Porter
Director, Corporate Communications
(206) 713-7959
becky@livecurrent.com
Copyright Business Wire 2008
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