Business Objects Reports Record Q4 1999 Results; Revenue Grows 45%; e-Business Momentum Continues

Business Wire, Feb 2, 2000

Business Editors

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 2, 2000

Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ)(PARIS BOURSE: code SICOVAM 12074) today announced its results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 1999, with revenue increases of 45 percent over the comparable three- and twelve-month periods in fiscal 1998.

Fourth quarter revenues were a record $74.8 million, an increase of 45 percent compared to revenues of $51.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 1998. Net income for the fourth quarter was $9.5 million, an increase of 106 percent compared to $4.6 million for the same period last year. Diluted net income per share and per ADS for the quarter ended December 31, 1999 was $0.23, compared to $0.13 in the fourth quarter of last year. Diluted net income per share and per ADS have been adjusted to reflect the two-for-one split of ordinary shares and ADS in January of 2000.

Revenues for the year ended December 31, 1999 were $241.6 million, an increase of 45 percent compared to revenues of $166.9 million during 1998. Net income for the year ended December 31, 1999 was $23.8 million, an increase of 131 percent compared to $10.3 million for 1998. Diluted net income per share and per ADS for the year ended December 31, 1999 was $0.60, compared to $0.29 for 1998.

&uot;With these fourth quarter results, we have now had ten consecutive quarters of year-over-year 40% revenue growth&uot; said Bernard Liautaud, president and chief executive officer of Business Objects. &uot;We are especially pleased with our strong quarterly and year-end results, reflecting the growing demand from leading e-businesses and global corporations for our e-business intelligence solutions.

&uot;Our success in the e-business market reflects the increasing number of companies that are combining the internet with business intelligence, to leverage their business information and create new relationships with and services for their customers and business partners,&uot; Liautaud continued. &uot;For example, e-businesses use our e-BI solutions to examine e-commerce transaction data to understand sales and marketing results, as well as to analyze clickstream data and identify opportunities for merchandising. Several leading e-businesses have chosen Business Objects as their e-BI intelligence platform, including: AllAmerica.com, GoNetwork, KBKids.com, Stamps.com, Trading Dynamics, and WebMD.com.

&uot;During the past year, we have partnered with a number of innovative companies as they built their extranet platforms for the future,&uot; Liautaud said. &uot;In the fourth quarter, we passed the 100th extranet customer milestone, with companies using WEBINTELLIGENCE(R) for supply-chain management, customer relationship, and information brokerage extranets. Reaching the 100th customer milestone demonstrates that e-BI extranets are not just for pioneering companies; any business can benefit from this type of application.

&uot;We also recently announced the release of WEBINTELLIGENCE Extranet Edition, which is dedicated specifically to extranet environments,&uot; Liautaud added. &uot;Our WEBINTELLIGENCE Extranet Edition is built for customers who want to add self-service access to information as part of their extranets.&uot;

Business Objects expanded its customer base in the fourth quarter, adding over 241,000 new licenses for a total of 1,680,000 worldwide. Key customers in the fourth quarter included: ADC Telecommunications, Black &Decker, Cap Gemini France, Glaxo Research, Principal Mutual Life, and Unisys.

Business Objects was recently named one of the most influential companies shaping the &uot;intelligent enterprise&uot;, as part of Intelligent Enterprise's 2000 information technology (IT) Dozen. The company is ranked as the leading independent business intelligence vendor on the list. The award marks the fourth consecutive year that Business Objects has been recognized by the magazine's editors as one of the leaders in shaping how companies use technology to transform their business.

The Company's balance sheet continued to be strong with $176.2 million in cash and cash equivalents. Total assets at December 31, 1999 were $272.5 million, compared to $138.1 million at December 31, 1998.

About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world's leading provider of e-business intelligence (e-BI) solutions. Using e-business intelligence, organizations can access, analyze, and share information in intranet, extranet, and e-business environments. In intranets, the company's products provide employees with information to make better business decisions, and are used in environments ranging from workgroups of 20 users to enterprise deployments exceeding 20,000. In the extranet environment, the company is pioneering the use of e-BI in applications that allow organizations to build stronger relationships by linking customers, partners, and suppliers via the internet. In addition, the company's products can improve the performance of an e-business by providing reporting and analysis against the ever-expanding amount of transaction and profile data that is collected each day throughout the world wide web.