NCR Reports First-Quarter 2005 Results; Better-than-expected revenue growth in Data Warehousing and Customer Services profitability drive strong results

Business Wire, April 28, 2005

NCR reports its results in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States, or GAAP. However, as described below, the company believes that certain non-GAAP measures found in this release are useful for investors.

(1) NCR's management looks at the company's earnings-per-share results excluding certain items to assess the financial performance of the company and believes this information is useful for investors because it provides a more complete understanding of NCR's underlying operational performance, as well as consistency and comparability with past reports of financial results. In addition, management uses earnings per share excluding these items to manage and determine the effectiveness of its business managers and as a basis for incentive compensation. This non-GAAP measure should not be considered as a substitute for or superior to earnings per share determined in accordance with GAAP.

(2) The operating segment results discussed in this earnings release exclude the impact of $34 million of pension expense in the first quarter of 2005 and $32 million of pension expense in the first quarter of 2004. When evaluating the year-over-year performance of and making decisions regarding its operating segments, NCR excludes the effect of pension expense/income. Schedule B, included in this earnings release, reconciles total "Income from operations excluding pension expense/income" for all of the company's operating segments to "Total income from operations" for the company.

(3) NCR defines free cash flow as cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures for reworkable service parts, property, plant and equipment and additions to capitalized software. NCR's management uses free cash flow to assess the financial performance of the company and believes it is useful for investors because it relates the operating cash flow of the company to the capital that is spent to continue and improve business operations. In particular, free cash flow indicates the amount of cash generated after capital expenditures for, among other things, investment in the company's existing businesses, strategic acquisitions, strengthening the company's balance sheet, repurchase of company stock and repayment of the company's debt obligations. This non-GAAP measure should not be considered a substitute for or superior to cash flows from operating activities under GAAP, or as a proxy for cash flow available for discretionary spending.

Note to Investors

This news release contains forward-looking statements, including statements as to anticipated or expected results, beliefs, opinions and future financial performance, within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements include projections of revenue, profit growth and other financial items, future economic performance and statements concerning analysts' earnings estimates, among other things. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause NCR's actual results to differ materially.