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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THESTREET.COM REPORTS RECORD QUARTERLY AND ANNUAL REVENUES
US OPERATIONS SEEN AS EBITDA POSITIVE IN SECOND HALF OF 2001
Company Had $119 Million in Cash On Hand as of December 31, 1999
NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2000 - TheStreet.com (NASDAQ:
TSCM
), a leading Web-based provider of original, timely and comprehensive financial news and commentary, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 1999. Net revenues for the fourth quarter of 1999 totaled $5.1 million, a 248% increase over fourth quarter 1998 revenues of $1.5 million and a 30% increase over third quarter 1999 revenues of $3.9 million. For the full year of 1999, net revenues increased 210% to $14.3 million compared with $4.6 million for the full year of 1998. Excluding a non-cash compensation charge in connection with certain stock options and non-recurring charges, the Company reported a net loss of $9.1 million, or ($0.36) per share, in the fourth quarter of 1999 before giving effect to preferred dividends. Excluding the non-cash compensation charge and non-recurring charges, the Company's net loss for the full year of 1999 amounted to $28.4 million, or ($1.35), before giving effect to preferred dividends.
"These solid across-the-board results are an important indication of TheStreet.com's strong position as we move quickly toward creating a free main site and additional premium sites," said Thomas J. Clarke, Chief Executive Officer. "We believe the financial implications of this strategy will be very positive, with significant upside to our revenues and accelerated profitability. Having built a trusted and well-known brand, we will be able to re-target our advertising to effectively market our free hub site. As we rapidly expand our revenues, we expect to stay on a path towards profitability. We believe our US operations will become EBITDA positive during the second half of 2001, and with $119 million in cash on hand as of December 31, 1999, we are well-funded with a strong balance sheet."
Clarke added: "Our upcoming network of free and premium sites will enable us to provide highly targeted content to three distinct groups: the broad base of investors seeking free financial news and tools, affluent and sophisticated individual investors in search of high-end analysis and commentary, and investment professionals. These three market segments have different needs and TheStreet.com is now positioned to serve them all. We believe the expanded free content we began offering last fall has accelerated our page view gains, and we are confident in our ability to attract increased traffic with our new 'go-free' strategy."
Advertising and e-commerce revenues for the most recent quarter totaled $2.9 million, a 257% increase compared with the fourth quarter 1998 level of $809,000 and a 35% increase over the third quarter 1999 level of $2.1 million. More than 170 companies advertised on TheStreet.com during 1999. After TheStreet.com site becomes free in the second quarter of 2000, advertising and e-commerce revenues are expected to constitute a larger portion of the Company's total revenues.
During the fourth quarter, the Company increased the amount of free financial news content on TheStreet.com site, increasing the number of unique visitors and the number of page views. According to DoubleClick, the average monthly number of unique visitors to the Company's site during the fourth quarter of 1999 was 2.0 million, an increase of 56% compared with 1.3 million average monthly unique visitors during the third quarter of 1999. DoubleClick measures TheStreet.com's users in connection with delivering advertisements on its Web site. The average monthly number of page views during the fourth quarter was nearly 24 million, an increase of 39% over the third quarter figure of 17 million. The page-view gains have continued into the New Year, with a January total of 39 million.
Subscription revenues for the most recent quarter totaled $1.6 million, a 187% increase compared with the fourth quarter 1998 level of $541,000 and a 15% increase over the third quarter 1999 level of $1.4 million. As of December 31, 1999, the Company's subscription base was over 104,000 (not including free-trial members), more than triple the number of subscribers that the Company reported as of December 31, 1998. The Company will convert current subscribers to RealMoney.com subscribers when the network of free and paid sites launches this spring.
After giving effect to preferred dividends, the non-cash compensation charge and non-recurring charges, the Company's fourth quarter 1999 net loss amounted to $11.8 million or ($0.47) per basic and diluted share, compared to $4.8 million or ($0.56) per share in the fourth quarter of 1998. With these inclusions, the net loss for the full year of 1999 was $33.6 million, or ($1.73) per basic and diluted share, compared with a net loss of $16.4 million, or ($2.13) per share, for the full year of 1998.
Recent Highlights
- The Company announced that in the second quarter of 2000 its main site would become entirely free, complemented by a network of free and premium sites, and that current subscribers would be converted to an upcoming commentary-focused site called RealMoney.com
- TheStreet.co.uk, a majority-owned news and commentary site for UK-based investors, will launch later this month
- TheStreet.com and The New York Times launched a joint newsroom staffed by 8 journalists and providing co-branded breaking-news coverage simultaneously to both companies' sites
- TheStreet.com acquired ipoPros.com, a subscription site featuring commentary and ratings of upcoming IPOs and other equity offerings
- TheStreet.com and America Online announced a marketing agreement making TheStreet.com's branded content available on the AOL and CompuServe services, and on Netscape Netcenter and AOL.com
- TheStreet.com invested $2.25 million alongside Israeli newspaper publisher Ha'aretz Group in a forthcoming site to feature Israeli business and technology news. The site will share news and headlines with TheStreet.com
TheStreet.com will conduct a conference call today at 5:00 p.m. ET to discuss its fourth quarter and full-year 1999 financial results. The Company welcomes investors, analysts and members of the press to listen to the call over the Internet through Yahoo! Broadcast at:
http://webevents.broadcast.com/earnings/TSCM/Q41999/index.asp?eventid=308
About TheStreet.com
TheStreet.com Inc. (Nasdaq:
TSCM
) is publisher of TheStreet.com, a leading Web-based provider of financial news and commentary. TheStreet.com was founded in 1996, with an editorial team of over 80 experienced financial journalists based in New York City, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and London, and commentators throughout Europe and Asia. Under a recently announced strategy, the Company's main site at
www.thestreet.com
will become entirely free in the second quarter of 2000, augmented by a network of sites including RealMoney.com, a subscription-based commentary site featuring columnists including James J. Cramer, Herb Greenberg, Adam Lashinsky and more than two dozen others. TheStreet.com, Inc. has established strategic alliances with The New York Times, FOX News Network, Israel's Ha'aretz Group, America Online, Yahoo!, E*TRADE, DLJdirect, Intuit, 3Com and other leading companies.
Statements contained in this news release which are not related to historical facts may be deemed forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties (described in the Company's SEC filings) which could cause actual results to differ.
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