Lipman Electronic Engineering Ltd. (Nasdaq, TASE: LPMA) today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2004.
Net profit for the quarter was $4.8 million, or $0.38 per diluted share, compared to $5.8 million, or $0.55 per diluted share, for the comparable period in 2003.
The company noted that there were 12,653,000 diluted shares outstanding in the first quarter of 2004 compared to 10,509,000 diluted shares outstanding in the first quarter of 2003.
Net profit for the three months ended March 31, 2004 included $1.8 million of non-cash stock-based compensation expenses compared to $118,000 of these expenses in the comparable period in the prior year. Excluding the effect of stock-based compensation, pro forma net profit for the first quarter was $6.7 million, or $0.53 per diluted share, compared to pro forma net profit of $5.9 million, or $0.56 per diluted share, for the three months ended March 31, 2003.
For the first quarter of 2004, revenues were $32.1 million, an increase of 44.2% over revenues of $22.3 million for the first quarter of 2003.
Gross profit for the quarter was $15.7 million, or 49.0% of revenues, compared to $12.7 million, or 57.1% of revenues, for the first quarter of 2003. As previously discussed, the reduction in gross margin percentage reflects the penetration and expansion into new and emerging markets.
As of March 31, 2004, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $151.1 million compared to $57.5 million as of March 31, 2003. Lipman's cash balance as of March 31, 2004 include the net proceeds of approximately $91.4 million from the company's recent initial public offering in the United States.
Lipman president and CEO Isaac Angel said, "Our profitability for the quarter is higher then originally planned and this fact will enable us to reach our yearly goals more easily."
"In addition to our strong operational performance during the first quarter, we worked diligently to continue laying the foundation for Lipman's future growth and are extremely pleased with several recent developments. We were awarded tenders from AK Bank, Isbank and Yapi Kredi Bank in Turkey to supply a total of 89,000 terminals during the first half of 2004. These orders have significantly increased our penetration of three of Turkey's largest banks and, more importantly, have further established Lipman as the leading provider of transaction solutions for the Turkish market.
"Our recent receipt of Interac certification for the NURIT 8000S wireless terminal represents a significant step forward in our efforts to expand Lipman's presence in the Canadian market. We believe that a need exists for new terminals to support the rapid growth in card-based transactions in Canada, which reached approximately 2.6 billion in 2003. This growth in credit and debit card use represents a significant opportunity for Lipman."
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on Tuesday, May 11, 2004