NICE-Systems Ltd. (NICE)

[midastouch017]

Record Results for Third Quarter 2006 Reported by NICE Systems - Revenues Reach $112.2 Million
Wednesday November 1, 6:31 am ET
Company delivers record gross margins, operating margins and net income

RA'ANANA, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NICE Systems (NASDAQ: NICE - News), the global provider of advanced solutions that enable organizations to extract Insight from Interactions(TM) to drive performance, today announced results for the third quarter of 2006.

Third quarter 2006 pro-forma revenue was a record $112.2 million, representing a 35.6% increase from $82.7 million in the third quarter of 2005.

Pro-forma gross margin in the third quarter was a record 60.6%, or $67.9 million pro-forma gross profit, up from 56.6%, or $46.8 million respectively in the third quarter 2005.

The company reported a record pro-forma operating margin for the quarter of 15.9% and operating profit of $17.8 million, compared with 11.5% and $9.5 million, respectively, in the third quarter of 2005.

Third quarter 2006 pro-forma net income was a record $16.0 million, up 78.5% from $9.0 million in the third quarter of 2005. Pro-forma earnings per fully diluted share were at $0.31, up from $0.22 in the same quarter of 2005.

On a GAAP basis: Third quarter 2006 revenue was $107.5 million, up from $82.7 million in the third quarter of 2005. Third quarter 2006 gross margin was 56.2%, compared with 55.9% in the third quarter of 2005; operating loss was $6.9 million, compared with operating profit of $8.4 million, in the third quarter of 2005; and third quarter 2006 net loss was $5.4 million, or $0.11 per fully diluted share, compared with net income of $7.9 million, or $0.19 per share, on a fully diluted basis, for the third quarter of 2005.

Q3 2006 operating cash flow was a record $25.3 million, Total cash and equivalents at September 30, 2006 was $244.2 million, with no debt, compared with $421.1 million on June 30, 2006. This follows the $200 million that were paid for IEX during the quarter.

Commenting on the results, Haim Shani, Chief Executive Officer of NICE said, "Third quarter results reflect the successful execution of our long term plan and the continually growing demand for our Insight from Interactions solutions both in the enterprise and security sectors. They are also the clearest testament to the success of the paradigm shift we introduced to the enterprise sector with the acquisitions of IEX and Performix and implementation of our best-of-breed strategy for the contact center. Together with our global services, and worldwide footprint our offering enables us to achieve quick and measurable results. We continue to lead our markets going into 2007 and beyond."

Ran Oz, NICE's Corporate Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, stated, "Further to the outstanding results of the last three quarters and the strong momentum we are seeing in both the enterprise and security sectors, we are raising our full year guidance and providing first time Q4 guidance as follows: We expect Q4 revenues to be between $115 and $120 million, and pro-forma EPS per fully diluted share in the range of 32 - 37 cents. For the year we expect revenues at $413- $418 million, up from $408 - $417 million, and pro-forma EPS at a range of $1.12 - $1.17, up from $1.06 - $1.15 per fully diluted share."

Mr. Oz continued, "Looking forward to 2007 we expect the growth in our revenues to continue. This will allow us to enjoy the leverage of our business model, further improving margins and driving stronger bottom line growth. We introduce first time 2007 revenue guidance at $485 - $500 million; and first time pro-forma EPS per fully diluted share guidance of $1.35 - 1.45."

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