Exhibit 99.1
COLLECTORS UNIVERSE ANNOUNCES RECORD FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE THIRD
QUARTER AND NINE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2005
Income from Continuing Operations increases to 0.19 per share and to a record
high $0.53 per share in the three and nine months ended March 31, 2005,
respectively, from $0.13 per share and $0.23 per share, respectively, in the
same periods last year
Net Revenues increase 30% and 35%, respectively, in the three and
nine months ended March 31, 2005
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., May 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Collectors Universe,
Inc. (Nasdaq: CLCT), a leading provider of value-added authentication and
grading services to dealers and collectors of high-value collectibles, today
announced its financial results for the third fiscal quarter and nine months
ended March 31, 2005. Income from continuing operations increased to a record
level of $1.5 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, in the third quarter this
year from $791,000, or $0.13 per diluted share, in the same quarter last year.
During the third quarter this year the loss from discontinued operations was
$3,000, or $0.00 per diluted share, as compared to a gain from discontinued
operations of $201,000, or $0.03 per diluted share in the third quarter last
year. As a result, net earnings were $1.5 million, or $0.19 per diluted share,
in this year's third quarter as compared to $992,000, or $0.16 per diluted
share, in the third quarter last year.
Income from continuing operations and net income per diluted share were
computed on 7.6 million weighted average number of diluted shares outstanding
for the third quarter this year, which was 20% higher than the 6.3 million
weighted average number of diluted shares outstanding during the same three
months of 2004, primarily as a result of our completion in the third quarter of
2005 of a public offering in which we sold a total of 2,195,856 newly issued
shares.
For the nine months ended March 31, 2005, income from continuing operations
totaled $3.7 million, or $0.53 per diluted share, as compared to $1.5 million,
or $0.23 per diluted share, in the nine months ended March 31, 2004; while
discontinued operations sustained a loss of $79,000, or $0.01 per diluted share,
as compared to a loss of $534,000, or $0.08 per diluted share in the same nine
months of the prior year. As a result, net income for the nine months ended
March 31, 2005 was $3.6 million, or $0.52 per diluted share, as compared to a
net income of $945,000 or $0.15 per diluted share for the nine months ended
March 31, 2004. The number of weighted average diluted shares outstanding for
the first nine months of this year was 7.0 million, an increase of nearly 11%
from 6.3 million during the same nine months of 2004.
"We experienced strong demand for our services in all of our markets,
resulting in record quarterly revenues from our authentication and grading
businesses," explained Michael Haynes, Chief Executive Officer. "At the same
time, we were able to achieve increased efficiencies in our operations despite
the expenses of relocating our autograph business to our headquarters facility
in Southern California and costs, of about one cent per share, that were
attributable to the launch of our currency grading business in the latter part
of the quarter," continued Mr. Haynes. "With respect to our growth strategy into
other high-value asset markets, we are in the very early stages of our plan, and
expect to make further progress during the remainder of this calendar year,"
stated Mr. Haynes.
Financial Highlights
The principal contributors to our improved results of operations in the
three and nine months ended March 31, 2005 included:
* Increases of 30% and 35% in net revenues from continuing operations to a
record high of $9.0 million in the third quarter and to $25.1 million in
the first nine months this year, from $6.9 million and $18.7 million,
respectively, in the corresponding periods of 2004.
* Improvement in our gross profit margin from continuing operations to 64%
in this year's third quarter from 62% in the same quarter last year and to
64% in the first nine months this year from 60% in the same nine months
last year.
* Improvements in our operating efficiency (defined as operating expenses as
a percent of net revenues) to 39% in the third quarter this year from 42%
in the same quarter last year and to 41% in the nine months ended March
31, 2005 from 46% in the same nine months last year.
* An increase in net cash and short term investments generated by continuing
operations in the nine months ended March 31, 2005 to $6.7 million as
compared with $3.7 million in the same period last year, due primarily to
the improvement in our profitability.
* An increase in net cash and short term investments of $35.9 million at
March 31, 2005 that was primarily attributable to the net proceeds from
our public offering of 2.2 million newly issued shares completed in
February 2005, which also contributed to an increase in interest income
for the quarter ended March 31, 2005.
Results of Continuing Operations for the Three and Nine Months Ended March
31, 2005
Net Revenues. The increases in net revenues from continuing operations in
both the quarter and nine months ended March 31, 2005 were primarily
attributable to:
* increases of 33% and 28%, respectively, in total collectible units graded
in the quarter and nine months ended March 31, 2005;
* to a lesser extent, increases in sales of internet advertising and
collectors clubs memberships.
Gross Profits. The improvements in our gross margin in both the quarter and
nine months ended March 31, 2005 were attributable to: (i) a change in the mix
of collectibles submitted for authentication and grading to a higher proportion
of coins, on which were realized higher margins than on other collectibles; (ii)
a more than 400% increase in internet advertising revenues, which bear minimal
incremental cost of sales; and (iii) the overall increase in net revenues which
continued to drive down the fixed element of costs of sales as a percent of
total net revenues.
Operating Expenses. We continued to demonstrate progress in improving our
operating efficiencies, as the 30% and 35% increases in net revenues
substantially exceeded increases of 19% and 19%, respectively, in operating
expenses in the three and nine month periods ended March 31, 2005. As a result,
operating expenses declined as a percentage of net revenues to 39% in the third
quarter, and to 41% in the nine months ended March 31, 2005 from 42% and 46%,
respectively, in the same corresponding periods last year.
Operating expenses in the nine months ended March 31, 2005 included $500,000
of expenses related to the settlement of the Real Legends lawsuit reported in
the second quarter ended December 31, 2004. The settlement fully resolves all
claims brought by the plaintiff and terminates that lawsuit.
Conference Call and Webcast
Management will host a conference call and simultaneous webcast Monday, May
9th at 8:00 a.m. Pacific/11:00 a.m. Eastern time to discuss third-quarter fiscal
2005 operating performance. The conference call, featuring Chief Executive
Officer Michael Haynes and Chief Financial Officer Mike Lewis, will be available
live via the Internet. To listen to the live Internet webcast, log on to the our
web site at http://www.collectors.com, click on 'Investor Home' under the
Investor Information menu, and find the webcast link under 'Conference Calls.'
The conference call will also be available by dialing 877-270-4101 within the
U.S and Canada or 706-634-1485 for international participants. An online replay
will be available for 12 months on http://www.collectors.com, or a phone replay
will be available through May 25, 2005, by dialing 706-645-9291 or 800-642-1687
and entering the passcode 6061817.
About Collectors Universe
Collectors Universe, Inc. is a leading provider of value added services to
the high-value collectibles markets. The Collectors Universe brands are among
the strongest and best known in their respective markets. The Company
authenticates and grades collectible coins, sports cards, autographs and stamps.
The Company also compiles and publishes authoritative information about
collectible sports cards and sports memorabilia, United States and world coins,
and entertainment memorabilia. This information is accessible to collectors and
dealers at the Company's web site, http://www.collectors.com, and is also
published in print.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains statements regarding our expectations about our
future financial performance which are "forward-looking statements" as defined
in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements can be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "expect,"
"anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "project," or future or conditional
verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," or "may." Our financial
performance in the future may differ, possibly materially, from our current
expectations as set forth in the forward looking statements contained in this
news release, due to a number of risks and uncertainties. Those risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to:
* possible changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the
collectibles markets, such as a possible decline in the popularity of some
high-value collectibles, which could cause a reduction in authentication
and grading submissions and, therefore, also in the fees we are able to
generate;
* a lack of diversity in our sources of revenues and our dependence on
collectible coin authentication and grading for a significant percentage
of our total revenues, which makes us more vulnerable to adverse changes
in economic and market conditions, including declines in the value of
precious metals or recessionary conditions, that could lead to reduced
coin and other collectibles submissions, with a resultant reduction in our
revenues and income;
* our dependence on certain key executives and collectibles experts, the
loss of the services of any of which could adversely affect our ability to
obtain authentication and grading submissions and, therefore, could harm
our operating results;
* increased competition from other collectibles services companies that
could result in reductions in collectibles submissions to us or could
require us to reduce the prices we charge for our services;
* the risk that we will incur unanticipated liabilities under our
authentication and grading warranties that would increase our operating
expenses;
* the risk that new service offerings and business initiatives that we may
undertake will not gain market acceptance or will increase our operating
expenses and reduce our overall profitability or cause us to incur losses;
* the risk that our strategy to exit the collectibles sales business and
focus substantially all of our resources on our authentication and grading
businesses will not be successful in enabling us to improve our
profitability over the longer term or to grow our existing businesses or
expand into new collectibles or high value asset markets; and
* the risk that we will not be successful in integrating into our operations
any new businesses we might acquire or commence or that those businesses
will not gain market acceptance or that our business expansion may result
in a costly diversion of management time and resources and increase our
operating expenses and, therefore, hurt our profitability.
Additional information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties
that could cause our future financial performance to differ from our current
expectations is contained our Prospectus, dated February 16, 2005, as filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
Due to these and other possible uncertainties and risks, readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements
contained in this news release, which speak only as of its date, or to make
predictions about future performance based solely on historical financial
performance. We also disclaim any obligation to update forward-looking
statements contained in this news release or in our Prospectus dated February
16, 2005.
Mike Lewis Brandi Piacente
Chief Financial Officer Investor Relations
Collectors Universe The Anne McBride Co.
949-567-1375 212-983-1702 x208
Email: mlewis@collectors.com Email: bpiacente@annemcbride.com
COLLECTORS UNIVERSE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
as of March 31, 2005 and June 30, 2004
(in thousands, except per share data)
March 31, June 30,
2005 2004
(unaudited)
----------- -----------
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 63,632 $ 21,454
Short-term investments 2,294 -
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for
doubtful accounts of $62 (March)and $30 (June) 918 790
Note receivable 242 -
Inventories, net 399 452
Prepaid expenses and other current assets 789 781
Refundable income taxes - 13
Deferred income taxes 1,174 1,174
Receivables from sale of net assets of
discontinued operations 68 1,611
Current assets of discontinued operations
held for sale 415 1,267
Total current assets 69,931 27,542
Property and equipment, net 876 1,045
Deferred income taxes 3,256 5,205
Intangible and other assets 275 165
Non-current assets of discontinued operations
held for sale 65 117
$ 74,403 $ 34,074
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable $ 823 $ 455
Accrued liabilities 1,655 1,351
Accrued compensation and benefits 807 936
Deferred revenue 1,248 1,225
Current liabilities of discontinued operations
held for sale 54 276
Total current liabilities 4,587 4,243
Deferred rent and other long-term liabilities 537 465
Commitment and contingencies Stockholders' equity:
Preferred stock, $.001 par value; 5,000 shares
authorized; no shares issued or outstanding -- --
Common stock, $.001 par value; 45,000 shares
authorized; issued 8,601 at March 31, 2005
and 6,338 at June 30, 2004 9 6
Additional paid-in capital 78,493 42,215
Accumulated deficit (8,202) (11,834)
Treasury stock, at cost (125 shares) (1,021) (1,021)
Total stockholders' equity 69,279 29,366
$ 74,403 $ 34,074
COLLECTORS UNIVERSE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(in thousands, except per share data)
(unaudited)
Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended
March 31, March 31,
------------------------ ------------------------
2005 2004 2005 2004
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Net revenues $ 8,955 $ 6,896 $ 25,132 $ 18,661
Cost of revenues 3,263 2,597 9,087 7,495
Gross profit 5,692 4,299 16,045 11,166
Selling and marketing
expenses 876 788 2,581 2,316
General and
administrative expenses 2,588 2,135 7,167 6,298
Settlement of lawsuit -- -- 500 --
Total operating
expenses 3,464 2,923 10,248 8,614
Operating income 2,228 1,376 5,797 2,552
Interest income, net 245 11 419 25
Other expenses (20) (4) (18) (23)
Income before income
taxes 2,453 1,383 6,198 2,554
Provision for income
taxes 981 592 2,487 1,075
Income from continuing
operations 1,472 791 3,711 1,479
(Loss) income from
operations of
discontinued operations,
net of gains on sales of
discontinued businesses
(net of income taxes) (3) 201 (79) (534)
Net income $ 1,469 $ 992 $ 3,632 $ 945
Net income per basic share:
Income from continuing
operations $ 0.21 $ 0.13 $ 0.57 $ 0.24
(Loss) income from
operations of
discontinued
operations, net of
gains on sales of
discontinued
businesses (net of
income taxes) -- 0.03 (0.01) (0.09)
Net income $ 0.21 $ 0.16 $ 0.56 $ 0.15
Net income per diluted share:
Income from continuing
operations $ 0.19 $ 0.13 $ 0.53 $ 0.23
(Loss) income from
operations of
discontinued
operations, net of
gains on sales of
discontinued
businesses (net of
income taxes) -- 0.03 (0.01) (0.08)
Net income $ 0.19 $ 0.16 $ 0.52 $ 0.15
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic 7,113 6,135 6,523 6,160
Diluted 7,571 6,319 6,968 6,306
COLLECTORS UNIVERSE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(in thousands)
(unaudited)
Nine Months Ended
March 31,
-----------------------
2005 2004
---------- ----------
OPERATING ACTIVITIES
Net income from continuing operations $ 3,711 $ 1,479
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash
provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization 355 500
Loss on disposal of fixed assets -- 31
Provision for doubtful accounts 18 25
Provisions for inventory write down -- 38
Stock -based compensation 27 --
Deferred income taxes 2,264 --
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Short-term investments (2,294) --
Accounts receivable (146) (246)
Inventories 53 (261)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets (8) (125)
Income taxes receivable/payable 13 1,931
Other assets (18) 87
Accounts payable 213 (330)
Accrued liabilities 205 (203)
Accrued compensation and benefits (129) 277
Other long-term liabilities 72 50
Deferred revenue 23 440
Net cash provided by operating activities 4,359 3,693
INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Capital expenditures (178) (456)
Collection of receivables from sales of
discontinued operations 1,543 --
Proceeds from sale of fixed assets -- 70
Advances on notes receivable (2,575) --
Proceeds from collection of notes receivable 2,333 --
Purchase of intangible assets (100) --
Net cash provided by (used in) investing
activities 1,023 (386)
FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Proceeds from sale of common stock, net 35,897 --
Proceeds from employee stock purchase plan 34 21
Proceeds from exercise of stock options 262 748
Net cash provided by financing activities 36,193 769
Net cash provided by discontinued operations 603 7,181
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 42,178 11,257
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 21,454 4,482
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 63,632 $ 15,739
SOURCE Collectors Universe, Inc.
-0- 05/09/2005
/CONTACT: Mike Lewis, Chief Financial Officer of Collectors Universe,
+1-949-567-1375, mlewis@collectors.com; or Brandi Piacente, Investor Relations
of The Anne McBride Co., +1-212-983-1702, x208, bpiacente@annemcbride.com/
/FCMN Contact: bpiacente@annemcbride.com /
/Web site: http://www.collectors.com /