Orckit Communications Ltd fka ORCT

[midastouch017]

Orckit Communications Reports 2005 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results

Tuesday February 21, 8:30 am ET

TEL AVIV, Israel, Feb. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Orckit Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: ORCT - News) today reported results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2005.

Revenues in the fourth quarter of 2005 were $33.4 million compared to $8.6 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2004 and $25.4 million in the previous quarter ended September 30, 2005.

Net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2005 was $7.6 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $(2.9) million, or $(0.22) per share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2004 and net income of $7.6 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, for the previous quarter ended September 30, 2005. Results for the quarter ended September 30, 2005 included a capital gain of approximately $2.4 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, from the sale to Broadcom of the Company's holdings in Siliquent Technologies. Excluding this capital gain, net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2005 was $5.2 million, or $0.30 per diluted share.

The weighted average number of shares used in these calculations was 16.8 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2005, 13.1 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2004 and 17.0 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2005.

Revenues for the year ended December 31, 2005 were $101.2 million compared to $11.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2004. Net income for 2005 was $22.2 million, or $1.30 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $(20.1) million, or $(1.54) per share, for 2004. The weighted average number of shares used in these calculations was 16.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2005 and 13.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2004.


Key highlights for the quarter:

- Product deployment by KDDI Japan continued, supporting the ongoing
expansion of its metro networks. According to press releases from KDDI,
its VoIP Metal Plus and Triple Play Hikari Plus service offerings
continue to attract subscribers and gain traction. KDDI is expected to
continue increasing its subscriber base for advanced wireline and 3G
wireless service offerings, utilizing Corrigent's CM-100 packet ADM
across its metropolitan area network.

- Live traffic was carried for the first time over WilTel's RPR network.
Orckit expects to recognize initial revenues from WilTel in the first
quarter of 2006.

- Corrigent announced that it has opened an office in Mumbai, India to
address rapid telecommunications infrastructure developments in the
region. The opening of this office complements the expansion of
Corrigent's sales and marketing efforts in the Japanese, Korean and U.S.
telecommunications markets.

- Corrigent participated in the 6th Fiber Optics Expo in Japan, Asia's
largest exhibition specializing in fiber optic communications and
Japan's largest technical conference devoted to optical communications.
The growth in cellular TV subscribers over 3G wireless networks and HDTV
triple play services transmitted over fixed line networks is expected to
increase the need to upgrade metro networks with optimized packet
multiplexing capabilities, such as those offered by Corrigent's CM-100.

Izhak Tamir, President of Orckit, commented: "Our results for 2005, which include record profitability, were driven by the nation-wide deployment of Corrigent's CM-100 product line by KDDI in Japan. This deployment ramped throughout the year and we expect deployment to continue in 2006. Based on the initial success of KDDI's Metal Plus and Hikari Plus service offerings, which are supported by our CM-100 products, we believe that our relationship with KDDI will expand as they roll out new IP services."

"Interest in the CM-100 continues as carriers introduce plans to offer enhanced IP services over both wireline and wireless networks. To provide optimized support for such applications, full convergence of packet and TDM services on the metro network is required. Our CM-100 is a leading solution to meet the emerging needs of carriers in this area."

Mr. Tamir concluded, "We continue to innovate and enhance Corrigent's CM-100 packet ADM, adding capabilities that allow for the support of "quadruple play" services. In addition to HDTV, VoIP and data services over fixed line networks, our solution also offers state of the art support for TV over cellular services, all over a single converged platform. As demand for these services grows, we expect that demand for the CM-100 platform will increase, reaching a broader range of telecommunication carriers for a variety of applications. Product evaluation activity is strong and we expect to turn these trials into commercial sales."

Outlook and Guidance

First quarter 2006 guidance:

For the quarter ending March 31, 2006, Orckit expects revenues of approximately $24.0 million and net income of approximately $3.8 million, or $0.22 per diluted share.

Year 2006 guidance:

For the year ending December 31, 2006, Orckit expects revenues of approximately $125 million and net income of approximately $25.8 million, or $1.50 per diluted share.

Conference Call

Orckit Communications will host a conference call on February 21, 2006, at 11 a.m. EST. The call can be accessed by dialing 1-800-370-0898 in the United States and 1-973-409-9260 internationally. A replay of the call will be available at http://www.orckit.com. A replay of the call will be also available through February 28, 2006 at 11:59 p.m. at 1-877-519-4471 in the United States and 1-973-341-3080 internationally. To access this replay, enter the following code: 6880596.

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