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Fast Search & Transfer Announces First Quarter 2004 Results

FAST Reached Record Level Revenues in Q1 of $12.5 Million Yielding Year on Year Growth of 32%;At $2.6 Million, Achieved Positive Adjusted EBITDA for 10th Consecutive Quarter

OSLO, Norway 4 May 2004 Fast Search & Transfer (FAST), the leading developer of enterprise search and real-time alerting technologies, today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2004. western digital
First Quarter 2004 Highlights

Stamps.com Reports First Quarter 66% Year over Year Revenue Growth, and Increased Guidance for 2004 Company Now Anticipates Approximately 55% Fiscal Year 2004 Revenue Growth and Profitability in the Fourth Quarter of 2004 SANTA MONICA, Calif. April 21, Stamps.com™ ( STMP) today announced financial results for the first quarter of 2004. First quarter revenue was an all time quarterly high of $7.6 million, up 66% versus the first quarter of 2003 and up 19% versus the fourth quarter of 2003. In addition, Stamps.com announced that it has adjusted its guidance for fiscal 2004 total revenue to be up approximately 55% versus fiscal year 2003; previously the company guided to an overall increase of 35%. Further, the company now anticipates profitability in the fourth quarter of 2004, a quarter earlier than previously expected.

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* Q1 2004 revenues reached $12.5 million, growing slightly over Q4 2003 and by 32% year on year

Revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 2004 were $39.2 million. These first quarter results represent 73 percent growth over revenues of $22. ago quarter. "Q1 was another great quarter as our investments in technology, site experience and marketing paid off. year, outpacing the query growth for the search market as a whole, " said Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Ask Jeeves, Inc. "We also executed on important initiatives that we believe will help drive our future growth. We announced the acquisition of Interactive Search Holdings, which is expected to double our market share, and we improved Ask Jeeves' search technology, Teoma, making its search results even more relevant to our users."

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o Growth driven by the successful launch of the FAST Enterprise Search Platform (FAST ESP)

Stamps.com Reports First Quarter 2001 Financial Results Company reports 158% growth in revenue over first quarter 2000, with 39% gross margin and narrowed losses SANTA MONICA, Calif. April 17, Stamps.com™ ( STMP) today announced that revenue in the first quarter of 2001 was $5.3 million, an increase of 158% over the first quarter of 2000.

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* Achieved adjusted EBITDA of $2.6 million, positive for the 10th straight quarter

( - October 28, 2004) WebSideStory, Inc. ( WSSI), demand Web analytics, today announced its results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2004. Revenue was $5.7 million for the third quarter of 2004, compared to $4.1 million for the same period of 2003. Net income was $614 thousand for the third quarter of 2004 compared to a loss of $561 thousand for the same period of 2003.

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o EBITDA of $2.3 million, positive for the 9th straight quarter brother
o Operating income of $0.3 million, positive for the 6th straight quarter netvista
* Boosted net income by 29% year on year to $0.4 million due to focus on enterprise search camera
o Profitability objectives being met despite increased spending due to FAST ESP launch and continued multi-prong strategy that entails entering several new verticals, introducing five new FAST Data Search products, and developing Search Derivative Applications (SDAs) networking
* Client News: Record number of wins in eCommerce, Government, Financial Services and Publishing sharp
o New enterprise search clients include AutoTrader, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Ciber Norge (Norwegian Customs), Enel, Knight Ridder, The Law Library of Congress, Sema, Stanford University/High Wire Press, Statoil, and United Services Automobile Association (USAA) cheap
o New reseller partnerships and marketing alliances with CommsCo International SA, CoreMedia, Krak and Tellus windows
o Expanded enterprise search relationships with customers and partners including Allegis, Enhance Interactive, Ferramentas de Busca, Findexa, IBM, Matrix and Sensis monitors
o Former AltaVista enterprise customers renewed maintenance agreements or began migrating to FASTs technology including Cable and Wireless, Kraft Foods and Navisite linux
o Established strong base of new business in the rapidly growing eDirectories market (online yellow, white and pink directories) including Findexa, Sensis and Thomas Industrial Network computer support
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*EBITDA, excluding income (loss) from discontinued operations. panasonic
** EBITDA, excluding share-based compensation, equity in losses of investee, write-down of investment and income (loss) from discontinued operations. workstation
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Commenting on the results, Dr. John M. Lervik, chief executive officer of FAST, stated, In the first quarter of 2004, FAST continued to demonstrate its ability to deliver a strong revenue performance and to outperform our competitors in a tight market. In Q1 we succeeded in delivering quarter-on-quarter growth with record level enterprise search revenues of $12.5 million. The enterprise search market experienced good growth worldwide, and our first quarter client wins are strong indicators that we are well positioned to take advantage of this and to take additional market share through 2004. routers
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Ali I. Riaz, chief financial officer and chief operating officer at FAST, remarked, Our financial performance continued to strengthen indicated by the growth in new and recurring business, which yielded top line growth of 32% and positive adjusted EBITDA for ten straight quarters. We maintain a strong balance sheet with a period end cash position of $85 million. Additionally, our current ratio of 10:1 remains top in the industry. The combination of our increasingly positive financial performance, exceptionally strong technology and product offerings, and a rapidly growing, top-tier, global client and partner base leaves us confident in FASTs continuing strong performance throughout the remainder of 2004, notebook battery
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In Q1 2004, FAST launched FAST ESP, an Enterprise Search Platform solution that gives users a single point of access to all of their enterprise information in real time, regardless of data format, structure, or location. A high profile product launch for FAST ESP, demonstrated our innovative technology, market leadership in the sector and increased FASTs global visibility. The technology drew strong praise from industry analysts and we experienced strong demand for our enterprise search solutions across the board. In Q1, many global organizations including AutoTrader, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Ciber Norge (Norwegian Customs), Enel, Knight Ridder, The Law Library of Congress, Sema, Stanford University/High Wire Press, Statoil, and USAA signed on with FAST as enterprise customers and are using FASTs search technology and expanding the utilization by deploying additional applications. thinkpad t42
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During Q1, FAST invested over $2 million in building a new data center near its US Headquarters outside of Boston. Construction of the data center was completed in April, so the Company went from outsourcing hosting services to being a direct provider of such services to high profile customers such as Elsevier, IBM, TeliaSonera, Vodafone, T-Online, and FOX News. This move gives FAST capacity and flexibility to tailor its customer hosting services directly to customer requirements. thinkpad 600e
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FAST expanded existing relationships with customers including Enhance Interactive, Findexa, IBM, Matrix and Sensis. Additionally, the Company signed renewed maintenance agreements with former AltaVista enterprise customers, such as Cable and Wireless, Kraft Foods and Navisite. These deals demonstrate FASTs ability to retain and enhance existing client relationships against stiff competition. thinkpad 600x
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FAST added awards and gained further industry recognition in the first quarter of 2004 based upon its corporate growth and superior enterprise search offerings, such as being selected as one of KM World magazines 100 Companies that Matter in Knowledge Management. thinkpad a31
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FAST is working with its customers and partners to expand the role and business impact of enterprise search, commented Lervik. FAST envisions Enterprise Search as occupying the core of all IT infrastructure, enabling organizations to intelligently and dynamically retrieve and analyze the complete information set existing across their entire enterprise and from the Web. In the past quarter, the Company unveiled FAST ESP and five new FAST Data Search product packages aimed at addressing very specific business problems within the enterprise. These include FAST Data Search for Site Search; FAST Data Search for Compliance; FAST Data Search for eCommerce; FAST Data Search for Intranet; and FAST Data Search360. toshiba
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Additionally, with the release of a content monitoring application for Reuters, FAST has begun to deliver on its stated mission to develop and deliver search derivative applications (SDAs) which address the increased information management and content utilization complexities faced by most companies. In the coming months, FAST expects to launch several other SDAs focused upon solving specific business problems that are not adequately addressed by existing technologies. thinkpad
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FASTs vision for enterprise search is supported by many of the leading industry analysts. They view FAST as a visionary and innovative vendor in the enterprise search market. This, along with strong customer testimonials stating that FAST is the only company that could solve their mission critical problem gives us the confidence to continue pushing the technology envelope, added Bjrn Olstad, chief technology officer at FAST. laptop computers
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In the last quarter, FAST increased its market position by building and expanding its distribution channels through newly signed referral, alliance and developer agreements with companies including CommsCo International SA, CoreMedia, Exorbyte, Krak and Tellus. lenovo
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FAST is dedicated to being a strong partner to our global OEM dealers and resellers, offering them the most extensive and flexible search solutions based on our FAST ESP technology. Whether licensed directly or deployed as a hosted applications, FAST delivers solutions based on our partners business needs said Riaz. In addition to providing certified education courses, FAST recently created a FASTWorks program that helps our partners develop a deeper professional services relationship with FAST and its technology, thus creating new competencies leading to further revenue opportunities. With education courses being filled and an intense interest in FASTWorks, its clear that FASTs deep level of commitment to customers and our global partners is paying off. travelstar
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FAST is delivering strong financial results and continues to outperform the market while dealing with a slowly recovering global economic climate. In the last few months our business has evolved in some very exciting ways. We are investing in FASTs future by focusing our efforts on developing and delivering our new FAST ESP solutions to the marketplace and expanding our reach into new and exciting areas by creating new SDAs which can be used to solve demanding business problems. An increasingly positive financial performance, grouped with a rapidly growing top-tier global client and partner base, leaves FAST well-positioned for the remainder of 2004, added Lervik. hard drives
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Click here for the Q1 2004 Quarterly Report canon
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About FAST desktop computers
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FAST creates the real-time search and filter technology solutions that are behind the scenes at the worlds best known companies with the most demanding search problems. FASTs flexible and scalable integrated technology platform elevates the search capabilities of enterprise customers and connects people to the relevant information they seek regardless of medium. This drives revenues and reduces total cost of ownership by effectively leveraging IT infrastructure. FASTs powerful enterprise search technology solutions are used by a wide range of global customers and partners, including AT&T, Cardinal Health, CareerBuilder.com, Charles Schwab & Co., Chordiant, CIGNA, CNET, Dell, Fidelity Investments, FirstGov.gov (GSA), Freeserve, IBM, LexisNexis, Overture, Rakuten, Reed Elsevier, Reuters, Tenet Healthcare, Thomas Industrial Network, T-Online, US Army, and Virgilio (Telecom Italia), and Vodafone. repair
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FAST operates globally with presence in the United States, Europe, and Japan. FAST is publicly traded under the ticker symbol 'FAST' on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Please visit www.fastsearch.com for more information. cisco

2004 Fast Search & Transfer ASA - Fast Search & Transfer, FAST, FAST ESP, and the FAST four-colored logo are trademarks of Fast Search & Transfer ASA. All rights reserved. FAST disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.