VIENNA, Va., June 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Convera Corporation
(Nasdaq: CNVR) - www.convera.com - a leading provider of vertical search
services for publishers, today announced financial results for the three-month
period ended April 30, 2008.
Revenue from continuing operations for the first quarter of fiscal 2009
increased to $402,000 or 44% over the $280,000 in revenue recorded in the
fourth quarter of fiscal 2008.
Backlog, grew from $4.0 million at January 31, 2008 to $4.7 millionApril
30, 2008. These backlog balances represent future revenues stemming from the
contractual minimum revenue commitment amounts from our customers.
As of April 30, 2008, a total of 45 Excalibur supported vertical search
sites from 25 different publishers that have been commercially launched.
There were 39 vertical search sites from 24 publishers that had been
commercially launched at January 31, 2008. Search traffic activity from the
Excalibur supported vertical sites continued to grow, increasing 187% from 9.5
million searches in the fourth quarter of last year to 17.8 million in the
first quarter ended April 30, 2008.
As of today, a total of 75 Excalibur supported vertical search sites are
under contract with customers, 47 of these sites have been commercially
launched and 28 of these sites are in development. These contracted sites
represent publications in over 15 major vertical industries.
Convera is presently providing vertical search services to 30 different
trade publishers. Patrick Condo, President and CEO of Convera, stated, "We
are pleased with the continued progress we are making in acquiring customers,
launching sites and the increased search traffic on our network. Advertising
revenue and the newly instituted annual capacity based pricing model began to
contribute to revenue in quarter and are expected to continue to grow in
subsequent quarters. We expect to see the financial results of this effort
evidenced in this fiscal year as the we continue to see the impact of our
efforts to increase revenue and decrease expenses in the coming quarters of
this fiscal year".
The loss from continuing operations for the three-month period ended April
30, 2008, was $5.4 million, or $0.10 per share, (which includes $1.6 million
in depreciation and stock compensation expenses which are non cash expenses)
compared to a loss of $7.7 million, or $0.15 per share, (which includes $0.1
million in depreciation and stock compensation which are non cash expenses)
for the comparable year-ago period and a loss of $7.0 million (which includes
$1.4 million in depreciation and stock compensation which are non cash
expenses) for the three months ended January 31, 2008.
The decreased loss reflects the reduction in staffing levels and Convera's
efforts to discontinue non-strategic activities from cost streamlining actions
taken during fiscal 2008. Convera expects to continue to receive benefits
from these actions in the coming quarters as a result of continued alignment
of resources to pursue the on line publishing and media marketplace.
Net loss for the three months ended April 30, 2008 was $5.4 million or
$0.10 per share, which compares to a net loss of $7.5 million or $0.14 per
share, for the comparable period of the prior year.
Cash and investments as of April 30, 2008, totaled $31.4 million and does
not include the $4 million held in escrow from the sale of the RetrievalWare
enterprise search business in August 2007. We expect to receive the escrow to
be released in the third quarter, in accordance with terms of the agreement.
The attached financial information compares the results of operations for
the three-months April 30, 2008, to the same period in 2007, and the balance
sheet as of April 30, 2008 and January 31, 2008.
The condensed, consolidated statements of operations for the Company for
the three months ended April 30, 2008 and 2007 appear below and are presented
in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United
States. All amounts, except per share amounts, are expressed in thousands of
U.S. dollars.
Three Months Ended
April 30,
2008 2007
Continuing Operations: (unaudited) (unaudited)
Revenues:
Hosted services $402 $324
Operating Expenses:
Cost of revenue - hosted services 1,829 1,933
Sales and marketing 876 1,019
Research and product development 1,234 1,289
General and administrative 2,068 4,323
Total Expense 6,007 8,564
Operating loss (5,605) (8,240)
Interest income, net 179 491
Net (loss) from continuing operations $(5,426) $(7,749)
Discontinued Operations:
Income from discontinued operations - 206
Income from discontinued operations - 206
Net Loss $(5,426) $(7,543)
Earnings(loss) per share - basic & diluted
Continuing operations $(0.10) $(0.15)
Discontinued operations - 0.01
$(0.10) $(0.14)
Weighted average number of common
shares outstanding - basic and diluted 53,306 52,901
The condensed, consolidated Balance Sheets for the Company as of April 30,
2008, and January 31, 2008, appear below and are presented in accordance with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. All amounts
are expressed in thousands of U.S. dollars.
Assets April 30, 2008 January 31, 2008
(unaudited) (unaudited)
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents 31,350 $36,641
Accounts receivable, net 463 182
Escrow, Prepaid expenses and other 5,089 4,002
Total current assets 36,902 40,825
Equipment and leasehold improvements, net 4,244 4,913
Other assets 621 629
Total assets 41,767 $46,367
Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable 982 $699
Accrued expenses 1,971 2,282
Deferred revenues 634 651
Total Liabilities 3,587 3,632
Shareholders' Equity 38,180 42,735
Total liabilities and
shareholders' equity 41,767 $46,367
About Convera(R)
Convera is the leading provider of vertical search services for
publishers. Convera enables publishers to generate additional revenue by
creating customized search applications for specialist audiences under their
own brand.
Convera vertical search applications can combine publisher proprietary
content with an editorially vetted best of the Web for specific professional
audiences, providing an authoritative and comprehensive search experience.
Many of the world's largest publishers are working with Convera to accelerate
their e-publishing strategies, meet growing online revenue goals and build
loyal online professional communities.
This release, including any statements from Convera personnel, contains
statements about Convera's future expectations, performance, plans, and
prospects, as well as assumptions about future events. The reader is
cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as
these statements are subject to numerous factors and uncertainties, including
without limitation, business and economic conditions and trends; the ability
to continue funding operating losses; fluctuations in operating results
including impacts from reduced corporate IT spending and lengthier sales
cycles; continued success in technological advances and development; possible
disruption in commercial activities caused by terrorist activity and armed
conflict, such as changes in logistics and security arrangements; reduced
customer demand relative to expectations; competitive factors; and other risk
factors listed from time to time in the company's reports to the Securities
and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from our
expectations as the result of these and other important factors relating to
Convera's business and product development efforts, which are further
described in Convera's filings with the SEC. These filings can be obtained
from the SEC's website located at www.sec.gov. Any forward-looking statements
are based on information available to Convera on the date of this release, and
Convera assumes no obligation to update such statements. Convera(R) and the
Convera design logo are trademarks of Convera in the United States and other
countries.
SOURCE Convera Corporation
Matt Jones, Investor Relations, Convera Corporation, +1-703-761-3700,
mjones@convera.com
