F.GEMS: MICROS to GO!...

[Francois+Goelo]

¶ FECC: 19.2 million shares... $28 million CASH...

or roughly $1.46 per share with $500K per Quarter burn rate mostly offset by interest income... Yet, trading @ $1.05... A wealthy Potential Shell, for a change...

First Ecom.com, Inc. Announces First Quarter Financial Results for 2001; Company Has Sizeable Reduction in Losses Following Recent Initiatives to Reduce Operating Costs



WAN CHAI, Hong Kong--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 18, 2001-- First
Ecom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: FECC, BSX: FECC, FECC BH), a global provider
of electronic payment processing solutions, today announced financial
results for the quarter ended March 31, 2001, the first quarter of the
fiscal year 2001.
First Ecom, which is still in development stage, posted revenues
for the quarter of US$ 12,756 as compared with revenues for the same
quarter in 2000 of US$ 4,802. This quarter's revenues are attributable
solely to payment processing and represent 23.8 percent of the
Company's total payment processing revenues since its inception on
September 16, 1998.
Net loss for the first quarter of 2001 after amortization,
depreciation and non-cash compensation associated with stock options
was US$ 468,503 as compared to the first quarter of 2000 net loss of
US$ 2,452,712. This is a sizable improvement over the previous year.
Net loss per share for the quarter was US$ 0.02 per share as
compared to the net loss per share of US$ 0.15 for the same quarter in
2000.
As of the end of the quarter, the Company had in excess of US$
28,000,000 in cash and realized a 116 percent increase in interest
income compared to the first quarter of 2000. This growth was due to
the increase in cash balance of US$ 30.6 million from the private
placement completed on March 6, 2000 and US$ 7.8 million from the
exercise of warrants in July 2000.
"During the quarter, the Company's main objectives were to focus
on its cost reduction program and to determine the Company's priority
initiatives in moving forward," said Gregory Pek, president and Co-CEO
of First Ecom. "This included conducting strategic assessments as to
where the industry was going and what will be required for the
Company's future success. There clearly have been some major changes
in the past year that have had a major impact on the payment
processing industry and we felt that simply following an old business
model despite these changes would have been foolish. Hopefully the
steps we have taken over the last six months will be rewarding and
help to differentiate our Company from others."
Pek added, "It has been a favorable quarter in that we are on
track with our new initiatives to reduce burn rate, focus on sales in
Asia, and implement our new Company structure. We are continuing to
study other opportunities for the Company, such as the recent
announcement that we have entered into a memorandum of understanding
with Gasco Energy, Inc. to merge. We are excited by this and other
opportunities and are confident that these changes will foster the
Company's growth in 2001."
The Company's financial results for the quarter ended March 31,
2001 accompanied the filing of its Form 10-Q with the Securities &
Exchange Commission on May 14, 2001, which is available on-line at the
SEC's Edgar database at www.freeedgar.com.
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Financial Summary

FIRST ECOM.COM, INC.
Financial Highlights (Unaudited)

Quarter Ended Quarter Ended
March 31, 2001 March 31, 2000
Revenues $12,756 $ 4,802
Net (Loss) $ (468,503) $ (2,452,712)
Basic and diluted net loss per share $ (0.02) $ (0.15)
Shares used to compute basic
and diluted net loss per share 19,210,037 15,879,359
Operating (loss) $(2,154,930) $ (2,632,051)

*T

About First Ecom

As a global provider of electronic payment processing, First Ecom
provides secure, easy-to-implement and low-cost online payment
processing services to banks and their merchants worldwide. Through
strategic partnerships with banks, ISPs, e-commerce product suppliers,
system integrators and storefront solution providers, First Ecom will
process credit card transactions made over the Internet in multiple
currencies, either domestically or offshore in a tax-neutral
jurisdiction.

For more information, visit http://www.firstecom.com or contact
First Ecom at +(852) 2801-5181 or by e-mail at [e-mail].

Certain statements contained herein are "forward-looking"
statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Reform
Act of 1995). Because such statements include risks and uncertainties,
actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied
by such forward-looking statements. For a discussion of some of these
risks and uncertainties, please refer to the company's SEC filings,
which contain additional discussion about those factors which could
cause actual results to differ from management's expectations. First
Ecom expressly disclaims any obligation to update the statements
contained herein.

--30--kms/cgo*

CONTACT: First Ecom.com, Inc.
Gregory Pek, +(852) 2801-5181
or
Investor Relations, 888/305-8233
[e-mail]