Ascend Communications reports 1995 financial results; sales increase 280%; Net income increases 251%

Business Wire, Jan 16, 1996

ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 16, 1996--Ascend Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASND) today reported its financial results for the year ended December 31, 1995. For the year, net sales were $149.6 million and net income was $30.6 million ($0.56 per share). Compared with financial results for the year ended December 31, 1994, sales increased 280%, net income increased 251% and net income per share increased 195%. Net sales and net income for 1994 were $39.3 million and $8.7 million ($0.19 per share), respectively.

For the fourth quarter ended December 31, 1995, net sales were $60.6 million and net income was $14.7 million ($0.25 per share). Compared with the fourth quarter of 1994, these results represent a 333% increase over net sales of $14.0 million, a 371% increase over net income of $3.1 million and a 317% increase over net income per share of $0.06. Also, compared with the third quarter ended September 30, 1995, these results represent a 51% increase over net sales of $40.0 million, a 107% increase over net income of $7.1 million and a 92% increase over net income per share of $0.13.

As previously reported, the Company declared a two-for-one stock split, payable in the form of a stock dividend, which was effective in January 1996. Adjusted for the stock split, net income per share for years ended December 31, 1995 and 1994 would be $0.28 and $0.09 per share, respectively. For the quarters ended December 31, 1995 and 1994, net income per share would be $0.12 and $0.03, respectively.

Commenting on the Company's performance, Mory Ejabat, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ascend, said, "1995 has been an extremely successful year for Ascend. We are very pleased with the continuing improvements in our financial performance; however, these financial results could not have been attained without the increasing customer acceptance of our products and the commitment of our team to go above and beyond in their efforts to satisfy customer needs."

"1995 was marked by many achievements." Ejabat continued. "In July, we completed a highly successful secondary offering of our common stock. We enhanced our distribution strategy by implementing a two-tiered distribution system, signing on additional resellers and distributors, and expanding our relationships with the long distance carriers and Regional Bell Operating Companies. We successfully introduced several new products this year, which substantially expanded our product offerings and increased our ability to support the ever-changing needs of our customers."

Looking forward to 1996, Ejabat said that the Company will continue to expand into growing application markets such as Internet access, telecommuting, remote access and multimedia access. "We intend to continue to capitalize on our core business and technical competencies to provide solutions for the changing needs of our customer base, as well as pursuing our strategy of identifying and capitalizing on emerging market opportunities and leveraging those opportunities in which we already participate."

Ascend Communications, Inc. develops, manufactures, markets, sells and supports a broad range of high-speed digital wide area network access products. The Company's products use inverse multiplexing or bandwidth on demand for applications such as telecommuting, remote access, Internet access and multimedia access. -0-