ASHTON TECHNOLOGY GROUP INC - Third Quarter Financial Results
FRIDAY , FEBRUARY 15, 2002 06:49 AM
New York, New York, Feb 15, 2002 (Market News Publishing via COMTEX) --
The Ashton Technology Group, Inc. (OTCBB:ASTN .195) announced that it had a net loss for the third quarter ended December 31, 2001 of $3.0 million compared to a net loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter of the prior year.
The net loss applicable to common stock for the quarter ended December 31, 2001 totaled $.06 per share, compared to a net loss of $.18 per share during the three months ended December 31, 2000.
Revenues were $750,296 during the three months ended December 31, 2001, compared to $50,593 during the same period last year, and $1.2 million during the three months ended September 30, 2001.
Ashton executed a total of 69.0 million shares during the quarter ended December 31, 2001 in its eVWAP(TM) system, a pre-open intelligent matching system offered through the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, compared to 6.2 million shares during the same period in 2000, and 102.4 million in the quarter ended September 30, 2001.
Ashton also executed an additional 7.6 million shares during the quarter ended December 31, 2001 compared to 7.4 million shares during the quarter ended September 30, 2001, away from the eVWAP system, at the volume-weighted average price.
Brokerage, clearing and exchange fees increased to $751,152 from $20,090 as a result of the costs associated with increased trades.
Total operating costs and expenses excluding brokerage, clearing and exchange fees were $2.6 million during the quarter ended December 31, 2001, compared to $4.0 million during the quarter ended December 31, 2000. Salaries and employee benefits decreased 14% to $1.4 million from $1.7 million due to fewer employees. Total headcount was 38 at December 31, 2001, compared to 56 at December 31, 2000.
Professional fees decreased 82% to $155,753 from $474,235, primarily as a result of a decrease in outsourced labor and legal costs.
Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased 33% to $827,203 in the third quarter this year from $1,230,952 in the third quarter last year, mainly due to reduced marketing expenditures and travel costs, as well as the relocation of our sales offices in New York and the closing of our sales offices in London and California.
During the three months ended December 31, 2001, Ashton recorded other charges of $515,600 related to a January 14, 2002 arbitration ruling against Ashton and in favor of the former president of its subsidiary, Electronic Market Center, Inc. (eMC). Other income for the three months ended December 31, 2000 included $413,980 related to the reimbursement of legal costs by Ashton's CEO.
During the year ended March 31, 2001, Ashton's subsidiary eMC began the orderly winding down of its operations as a result of market conditions and a lack of financing available to complete its development. As a result, eMC's results of operations have been reclassified as discontinued operations.
eMC incurred an operating loss of $4,977 in the three months ended December 31, 2001, compared to an operating loss of $837,020 for the same period in 2000.
Ashton's Chief Executive Officer, Fredric W. Rittereiser, said, "We made significant progress during the third quarter to reduce our operating expenses while focusing on developing a strategic partnership with OptiMark Innovations, Inc. and negotiating bridge financing. We continue to take actions to further conserve working capital until the closing of the OptiMark Innovations transaction, which we believe will accelerate the implementation of a competitive new business model."
Ashton is an eCommerce company that develops and operates electronic trading and intelligent matching systems for the global financial securities industry. It develops and operates alternative trading systems, serving the needs of exchanges, institutional investors and broker-dealers in the U.S. and internationally.
Ashton's goal is to enable these market participants to trade in an electronic global trading environment that provides large order size, absolute anonymity, no market impact and low transaction fees.
The forgoing press release contains forward-looking statements based on current management expectations. A variety of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from current expectations include the ability to close the securities purchase agreement with OptiMark Innovations, Inc, and the timing of such closing; the availability and terms of bridge financing to continue to fund our operations; our ability to operate and to obtain sustained liquidity in our trading systems and to operate those systems profitably; fluctuations in securities trading volume, prices or liquidity; our dependence on proprietary technology; technological changes and costs of technology; industry trends; and competition. These and other risks are described in greater detail in Ashton's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
(Financial tables follow)
THE ASHTON TECHNOLOGY GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
Statement (unaudited)
of Operations
Data: Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended
December 31, December 31,
2001 2000 2001 2000
Revenues $ 750,296 $ 50,593 $ 2,162,760 $ 134,488
Expenses:
Salaries
and
employee
benefits 1,425,213 1,659,846 4,349,846 4,343,084
Professional
fees 155,753 888,215 1,353,656 2,279,811
Brokerage,
clearing
and
exchange
fees 751,152 20,090 2,502,942 315,073
Depreciation
and
amortization 222,920 189,773 705,091 473,390
Loss on
trading
activities 747 39,169 375,479 324,220
Selling,
general
and
administrative 827,203 1,230,952 2,508,030 2,968,659
Total
costs
and
expenses 3,382,988 4,028,045 11,795,044 10,704,237
Loss from
operations (2,632,692) (3,977,452) (9,632,284) (10,569,749)
Interest
income 8,928 241,957 99,376 984,412
Interest
expense (118,013) (1,952) (205,976) (9,937)
Other
income
(expense) (551,815) 413,980 (1,058,065) 307,105
Equity in
income
(loss)
of
affiliates 262,580 (1,151,692) 251,485 (1,789,531)
Net loss
from
continuing
operations $ (3,031,012)$ (4,475,159) $(10,545,464) $(11,077,700)
Loss from
discontinued
operations
of eMC (4,977) (837,020) (6,943) 1,641,513)
Gain on
disposal
of eMC -- -- 601,267 --
Total
discontinued
operations
of eMC (4,977) (837,020) 594,324 (1,641,513)
Net loss $ (3,035,989) $ (5,312,179) $ (9,951,140) $(12,719,213)
Dividends
attributed
to
preferred
stock -- (664,600) (1,329,200) (1,062,328)
Dividends
in
arrears
on preferred
stock (9,981) (148,552) (138,840) (425,724)
Net loss
applicable
to common
stock $ (3,045,970) $ (6,125,331) $(11,419,180)$(14,207,265)
Basic and
diluted net
loss per
common
share from
continuing
operations $ (0.06) $ (0.18) $ ( 0.32)$ (0.44)
Basic and
diluted net
income
(loss)
per common
share
from
discontinued
operations $ 0.00 $ (0.03) $ 0.02 $ (0.06)
Basic and
diluted net
loss per
common
share $ (0.06) $ (0.21) $ (0.30)$ (0.50)
Weighted
average
number of
common shares
outstanding,
basic and
diluted 48,369,605 28,939,687 38,589,965 28,586,531
Balance Sheet Data:
(unaudited) (audited)
December 31, 2001 March 31, 2001
Cash and cash equivalents $ 960,250 $ 6,028,883
Securities available
for sale - 1,483,350
Total assets 4,002,266 13,065,778
Total liabilities 6,438,248 1,803,972
Minority interest - 4,000,000
Redeemable preferred stock - 4,363,717
Total stockholders'
(deficiency) equity (2,435,982) 2,898,089
CONTACT: TEL: 201/784-8880 The Ashton Technology Group, Inc.
FAX: 201/784-1446 Investor Relations and Media Contact:
Fraser P. Seitel
Internet: www.ashtontechgroup.com
Internet: www.evwap.com
URL: www.ashtontechgroup.com
MarketbyFax(tm) - To get the NEWS as it happens, call (604) 689-3041.
(C) 2002 Market News Publishing Inc.
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