THINK New Ideas Posts $1.4 Million Loss

THINK New Ideas Inc. posted a net loss for its first quarter of fiscal 1999 ending Sept. 30 of $1.4 million, or $0.17 per share, compared with net income of $61,000, or $0.01 per diluted share, for the year-ago period.

Revenues for the first quarter grew to $11.3 million, up from $6.9 million in the prior year.

Ron Bloom, THINK chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement: “As we indicated in September, it is our belief that economic uncertainties here and abroad had the effect of freezing certain client, new business and licensing- related decisions during the quarter, effecting our overall revenue growth. Although we have continued to experience new wins, the initiation of the work associated with these wins is taking longer to be reflected in revenues.”

Mel Epstein, THINK’s chief financial officer, said: “As we had indicated, we were expecting less than originally estimated revenues for the period. The additional quarterly loss is primarily due to a shortfall resulting from additional client decision postponements. These affected both licensing and fixed fee work. Many of these opportunities are still in play and we hope to see their positive impact in future quarters.”

Epstein said expense-reduction efforts have had positive impact, as first- quarter expenses were approximately $900,000 less than in the quarter ended June 30.

Added Bloom: “Despite the revenue shortfall, we have maintained our focus on our business, and we made significant strides during the quarter. We are particularly proud to have been selected by IBM as one of six interactive marketing companies from among more than 100 competitors as a preferred interactive partner in support of IBM’s Web strategy, marketing, design and interactive advertising activities. We continue to be optimistic about THINK’s long-term prospects for growth.