BSD.L Regulatory News (BSD)

22 May 2007 10:43

Emblaze Ltd22 May 2007 MATRIX ANNOUNCES Q1 2007 RESULTS Ra'anana, Israel, 22 May 2007 - Emblaze Ltd ("Emblaze or "the Group") (LSE: BLZ)announces that Matrix IT Ltd. (TASE: MTRX), a subsidiary of its Formula Group("Matrix" or "the Company"), announced yesterday its results of operations forthe first quarter of 2007. Financial Highlights • Q1 revenues increased by 15.9% to $72m, up from $62m in Q1 2006 (*) • Operational profit remains 7.4% of total income, as in Q1 2006 • Net profit increased by 38% to $4.5m compared to $3.3m in Q1 2006 (*) • Solid cash flow from operations in Q1 2007 is more than $7m, an increase of 133% compared to Q1 2006 • Cash and short term investments in Q1 2007 amounted to approx. $40m • In March 2007, the Company distributed dividends in a total amount of $8.2m ($0.14 per share) Operational Highlights • The Company is now benefiting from the recent contract wins such as the Mizrahi Bank complete internet and CRM implementation (approx. $11m worth contract), the establishment of Bank Leumi's future internet system (approx. $11m worth contract) as well as CRM system of the Israeli telecom company, Bezeq (approx. $2.2m worth contract) computerizing the Asuta medical centers (approx. $2.5m worth contract) as well as the Weizmann Institute of Science (approx. $2.5m worth contract) and others. Additional achievement post the reported period: • In April 2007, the Company completed a strategic acquisition of Unicoders, an off-shore software development company in Sofia, Bulgaria. The acquisition is an essential course in the Company's road map to establish a network of OffShore development centers throughout East Europe. • In April 2007, the Company acquired the controlling interest in Tangram Soft Ltd., a leading provider of advanced IT services, SOA solutions and integration for IBM Mainframe, Java and Linux. The annual revenues of Tangram Soft Ltd in 2006 amounted to $12.8m mainly from the financial sector. Guy Bernstein, Chief Executive Officer of Emblaze Ltd said: "Matrix continues toestablish its position as the leading IT service provider in Israel,specifically in the banking and financial sectors but also in other sectors suchas governmental, health, telecom and others. As the main IT integrator in themarket, we expect to see further growth as well increase our efforts to enterinternational markets". Motti Gutman, CEO of Matrix said: "We are pleased with the results of the firstquarter as the Company continues to meet its targets and show continuous growth,specifically in the software services segment. We will continue our strategy ofinvesting in additional companies and technologies that will further improve andenhance our position and offering, both in Israel and abroad". STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS U.S. dollars in thousands (Israeli GAAP) Three months ended March 31, 2007 2006 Revenues $ 72,004 $ 62,115Costs of revenues 56,101 48,077 Gross profit 15,903 14,038 Operating expenses:Research and development 95 184Selling and marketing 3,846 3,345General and administrative 6,608 5,969 Total operating expenses 10,549 9,498 Operating income 5,354 4,540Financial expenses (38) (241)Other income (expenses), net 88 (151) Income before taxes on income 5,404 4,148Taxes on income 692 831 Income before equity gains and minority interests 4,712 3,317Equity gains (losses) of affiliates (161) 30Minority interests in gains of subsidiaries ( 27) (64) Net Income $ 4,524 $ 3,283 (*) figures are translated from New Israeli Shekels to US Dollars based onaverage exchange rates for the applicable period Enquiries: Emblaze Ltd Hadas Gazit, Hagit Gal +972 9 7699302/ 339 Corfin Communications Harry Chathli, Neil Thapar +44 (0)20 7929 8989 Eisenberg-Eliash LTD., Investor & Public relations Amir Eisenberg +972 3 7538828 / +972 52 8260285 Notes to editor: About Matrix IT Ltd. Matrix IT Ltd. is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange index 100. Matrix is oneof the leading integration and information technology (IT) services providers inIsrael. The company has circa 3,300 employees which provide services for over500 clients in the Israeli market. The company is active in four major sectors:software solutions and products, Integration solutions as well as operation oftraining centers in the hi-tech field and professional training courses invarious sectors. The company provides its products and solutions to a variety ofcustomers in various sectors: banking and finance, communications and security,industry and trade for government institutions and for different companies inthe public sector. For more information, please visit www.matrix.co.il About Emblaze Emblaze Ltd is a group of companies sharing a common mission to provide telecomoperators with technologies, products and solutions for next generationservices: Emblaze Mobile, a new breed in handsets design and manufacturing;ZONE-IP a provider of IP technologies and owner of Emblaze VCON, a leadingprovider of wireless video communications technologies and conferencingsolutions for operators and enterprise markets over IP networks; OrcaInteractive (LSE: ORCA), provider of Interactive Television IPTV middleware forVideo On Demand (VOD) and broadcast services, aimed at Telecom, cable and xDSLoperators; emoze, a free global Push Email service for mobile devices that willpush send your Emails and PIM data to you anywhere and to any device and VisualDefence (LSE: VDI), a provider of wireless and IP video solutions for militaryand homeland security markets; Formula Systems Ltd (NASDAQ:FORTY), is a globalsolutions provider of technology, software and IT solutions fortelecommunications companies, operators and a wide range of sectors. The FormulaSystems companies are trading on NASAQ: Magic Software Enterprises (MGIC),Sapiens International Corporation N.V. (SPNS), BluePhoenix Solutions (BPHX). Thefollowing companies are dually trading also on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange(TASE): Formula Systems, Magic, Sapiens, BluePhoenix and Matrix Emblaze Group is traded on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: BLZ) since 1996.www.Emblaze.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange