BSD.L Regulatory News (BSD)

17 Aug 2007 07:01

Emblaze Ltd17 August 2007 MATRIX ANNOUNCES Q2 2007 RESULTS Net profit for Q2 2007 reached $4.7m Operational Profit increased 29% vs. Q2 2006 Matrix's credit was rated Aa3 - the highest credit rate ever granted to an IT company in Israel Ra'anana, Israel, 17 August 2007 - Emblaze Ltd ("Emblaze or "the Group") (LSE:BLZ) announces that Matrix IT Ltd. (TASE: MTRX), a member of the Emblaze/FormulaGroup (NASDAQ: FORTY and TASE: FORT), ("Matrix" or "the Company"), announced itsresults of operations for the second quarter of 2007. Financial Highlights (*) •Q2 revenues increased by 21% to $77.6m, up from $63.9m in Q2 2006. •Revenues for the interim period amounted to $149.6m, up from $124.5m in the interim period of 2006. •Operational profit for Q2 2007 increased by 29% to $5.3m vs. $4.1m in Q2 2006. •Operational Profit for the interim period amounted to $10.7m, up from $ 8.6m in the interim period of 2006. •Net profit increased to $4.7m compared to $4.0m n Q2 2006. •Solid cash flow from operations in Q2 2007 is more than $7.3m, an increase of 26% compared to $5.8m in Q2 2006. •Cash and short term investments in Q2 2007 amounted to approx. $42.4m. •In June 2007, Matrix distributed dividends in a total amount of $4.8m. Total dividends distributed for the interim period of 2007 amounted to approx. $13m. •Matrix's credit was rated Aa3 by Midroog, an Israeli rating company and an affiliate of Moody's, which is the highest credit rating ever provided to an IT company in Israel. Operational Highlights •In April 2007, the Company completed a strategic acquisition of Unicoders, an off-shore software development Company in Sofia, Bulgaria. The acquisition has proven to be extremely beneficial in the deployment of the Company's services 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. With its 270 employees, Tangram provides the company with a robust enhancement for provision of its professional services, specifically in the financial sector. •Matrix continues to establish its leadership in the Israeli IT market, specifically in the banking and finance sectors, Internet and CRM systems, ERP, tailor-made solutions for government and security corporations as well as in the healthcare and commercial sectors. •The BWAY systems developed by Matrix is the first system implemented in Israel that is providing operational and commercial solutions adopted to recent regulatory requirements implemented in Israel in the pension products sector. Motti Gutman, CEO of Matrix said: "We continue our two-digit number growthalongside continuous growth of net profit, even in a period that istraditionally considered to be slow for Israeli IT companies. We expect to seefurther growth in the local market, specifically in the financial sector, andare planning to further increase our efforts to enter international markets". STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONSU.S. dollars in thousands (US GAAP) Three months ended Six months ended June 30, June 30, 2007 2006 2007 2006 Revenues $ 77,610 $ 63,919 $ 149,615 $ 124,480 Costs of revenues 61,341 50,325 117,442 97,175 Gross profit 16,269 13,594 32,173 27,305 Operating expenses:Research and development 98 135 193 319Selling and marketing 4,086 3,409 7,932 6,690General and 6,779 5,950 13,387 11,738administrative Total operating expenses 10,963 9,494 21,512 18,747 Operating income 5,306 4,100 10,661 8,558Financial expenses (83) (386) (121) (607)Other income (expenses), net (55) 1722 (99) 1,674 Income before taxes on 5,168 5,436 10,441 9,625incomeTaxes on income 80 1,346 772 2,142 Income before equity gains and minorityinterests 5,088 4,090 9,669 7,483Equity gains (losses) of affiliates (183) 1 (344) 30Minority interests in gains of subsidiaries (239) (72) (266) (136) Net Income $ 4,666 $ 4,019 $ 9,059 $ 7,377 (*) figures are translated from New Israeli Shekels to US Dollars based onaverage exchange rates for the applicable period. 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 relations & Public relations (Israel)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 technology companies addressing both growth andinnovation activities thus combining the stability of "bread and butter" maturetechnology enterprises with "high-risk / high-reward" investments in innovation. Growth activities Formula Systems, which includes: - Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. (NASDAQ & TASE: MGIC) develops, markets and supports composite application development and deployment platforms with a service-oriented architecture (SOA), including application integration and business process management (BPM), with existing and legacy systems; - Matrix IT Ltd. (TASE: MTRX) is one of Israel's leading integration and information technology services companies, active in four principal areas: software solutions and services, software products, infrastructure solutions and hardware products, and training and assimilation. - Sapiens International Corporation N.V. (NASDAQ & TASE: SPNS) is a provider of IT solutions that modernize business processes to enable insurance and other companies to quickly adapt to changes. - nextSource Inc., designs, develops and implements web-based, high quality, innovative human capital management solutions. Innovation activities - Emblaze Mobile, an designer of advanced mobile devices; - emoze, a free global Push Email technology for mobile devices - ZONE-IP (Emblaze V CON), a provider of wireless video communications technologies and conferencing solutions for operators and enterprise markets over IP networks - Orca Interactive (LSE: ORCA), provider of Interactive Television IPTV middleware for Video On Demand (VOD) and broadcast services ; and - Visual Defence (LSE: VDI), (minority stake) a wireless and IP video solutions provider for military and homeland security markets. 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