2009-02-11
Strong EBITA development–Result impacted by goodwill write-down
(Oslo, February 11th 2009) Birdstep Technology ASA reported an EBITA of NOK 3.3 million in the fourth quarter 2008, compared to NOK -1.7 million in the corresponding quarter in 2007, while revenues grew to NOK 39.1 million (35.9).
All four business units showed a positive development and the company had a strong cash flow in the quarter. Due to IFRS regulations, NOK 210,2 million in goodwill and shares in associated companies has been written down, resulting in an accounting loss for the quarter.
- We are satisfied with the performance in the quarter. Birdstep delivered revenue growth, a positive underlying EBITA for the first time in the company’s history and a strong cash flow. In addition, we reached over one million EasyConnect customers in 2008. This milestone proves the growth in the USB modem market, says Torbjörn Sandberg, CEO of Birdstep Technology.
Birdstep Technology’s fourth quarter 2008 revenue was NOK 39.1 million (35.9) with an EBITA of NOK 3.3 million (-1.7). Net income ended at –202.1 million (-2.7), after extraordinary write-downs of NOK 210.2 million, reflecting IFRS regulations and current market valuations. The goodwill write-down was mainly related to the acquisitions of Secgo Software and ServiceFactory in 2007 and has no cash effects.
As communicated in the third quarter report, the working capital would be normalized in the fourth quarter. The cash-flow improved to NOK 16.7 million (11.7) in the quarter, bringing cash and cash equivalents at the end of the quarter to NOK 85.0 million.
- Birdstep has no interest bearing debt, a high equity ratio, a solid cash position and is fully funded. In the current financial environment, we will focus on conserving our cash and grow the existing business. We showed good developments in the fourth quarter and there are opportunities in all of our markets, says Sandberg.
The business unit EasyConnect, providing mobile broadband connectivity through USB modems, reported 171 891 new customers activating their USB modems with EasyConnect Go in December, bringing the full year figure to 1 006 050.
- Despite the financial turmoil, Birdstep expects EasyConnect to deliver activation and revenue growth in the first quarter and 2009 as the European mobile operators continues to invest in marketing USB modems to business professionals and to the consumer market. For Orbyte, SafeMove and Raima, the first quarter is seasonally a slower quarter than the fourth quarter. This will be apparent also in 2009, says Sandberg.
For further information, please contact:
Torbjörn Sandberg, CEO of Birdstep Technology ASA, phone +46 705170964
About Birdstep (www.birdstep.com)
Birdstep Technology ASA is a software vendor listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE) under the ticker `BIRD`. The company has four business segments, located in Norway, Sweden, Finland and the United States: EasyConnect offers connection and service management clients for network operators and lap top manufacturers, Orbyte offers network operators to rapidly deploy and manage large networks with advanced features, SafeMove provides seamless and safe connectivity to business data for OEM-providers and corporations, while Raima provides enterprises with high-performance embedded databases for in-memory database usage and persistent storage devices. The company has 100 employees and is headquartered in Oslo.
For additional information about Birdstep’s products, services, partners and customers please visit us at: www.birdstep.com.
