HERNDON, VA (November 15, 1999) - ePlus inc. (NASD:PLUS) announced record net income for its second quarter ended September 30, 1999. For the three month period, total revenues increased 67% to $52.7 Million, net income increased 27% to $2.1 Million, and fully diluted earnings per share increased 12% to $0.28 per share. For the six month period, total revenues increased 50% to $115.6, net income increased 16% to $3.6 Million, and fully diluted earnings per share decreased 2% to $0.48 per share.
On September 30, 1999, ePlus purchased CLG, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Centura Banks. As a result, total assets as of September 30, 1999 increased 109% to $322.2 Million and assets under lease increased 135% to $191.2 Million as compared to March 31, 1999, the Company's fiscal year end.
Lease volume for the quarter was $85.2 Million, a 16% increase over the same period the prior year.
Income statement and lease volume figures included herein exclude the results of operations of CLG, Inc., which was accounted for as a purchase.
The Company also announced the following management changes:
Bruce M. Bowen, Executive Vice President, has been promoted to President of MLC Group, Inc and will continue as President of MLC Federal, Inc. In his new position, Mr. Bowen will be responsible for the operations of the Company's primary leasing subsidiaries that produced over $350 Million in originations the prior fiscal year. Mr. Bowen founded the company in 1990 and has most recently led the company's successful government leasing efforts.
Kleyton L. Parkhurst, Senior Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer, will step down as Secretary to focus on investor relations, strategic planning, and marketing of the company's e-commerce strategy. In addition, Mr. Parkhurst will become Chief Financial Officer of solven.com, a web-consulting, marketing, and implementation company in which MLC Capital, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of ePlus) has a significant warrant stake.
George Fox has been promoted to Vice President of Finance and will manage all of the company's lease syndication and credit activities, lines of credit and financing facilities.
John Hanlon, formerly the Controller of MLC Group, Inc., has been promoted to Chief Information Officer (CIO) of MLC Group, Inc. and will become Secretary of the Company.
Phillip G. Norton, Chairman, President and CEO said "We reached a great number of milestones in the last few months. We had record earnings as a result of our continuing strategy to hold assets on balance sheet and the contribution of our technology services subsidiaries. The purchase of CLG makes us a leading third-party IT leasing company in North Carolina, which is a significantly bigger market than Virginia, D.C., and Maryland combined. We successfully launched our new e-procurement product, ePlusSuiteSM, which has exceeded our forecasts and which we expect will reposition ePlus as a true business-to-business e-commerce company in a short period of time." Mr. Norton continued "I am very excited about the recent reorganization of the company's top management. The realignment will allow me to focus more on two areas, which I believe are the most critical to the Company's success: investor relations and execution of our e-commerce strategy."
The Company also announced that it has discontinued the venture leasing effort, which had been announced on May 18, 1998. The division originated no transactions and Greg White, Vice President, has resigned from the company to pursue other interests.
About ePlus
ePlus inc. is a leading supply chain and asset management e-commerce solutions provider. Its hosted application covers the customer's total ownership experience, beginning with the end-user order and ending with the equipment disposal transaction. ePlusSuiteSM which consists of Procure+SM, Manage+SM, Finance+SM and Service+SM provides workflow management, procurement, order tracking and verification, asset depository, tracking and reporting, financing, sales, property and use tax compliance and payment, software license compliance, technology rollout and upgrades, technical and maintenance services, and equipment disposal. The Company, which was founded in 1991, is headquartered in Herndon, VA and has 17 offices in the United States. ePlus is an trademark applied for of ePlus inc., and ePlusSuiteSM, Procure+SM, Manage+SM, Finance+SM and Service+SM are service marks applied for of ePlus inc.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements contained in this release which are not historical facts may be deemed to contain forward-looking statements. Actual results may vary due to the following risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, demand and competition for the Company's lease financing and equipment sales and asset management services, and the products to be leased or sold by the Company, the continued availability to the Company of adequate financing, the ability of the Company to recover its investment in equipment through remarketing, the successful execution of its e-commerce strategy, and other risks or uncertainties detailed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Investors are cautioned that current financial results may not be indicative of future results.
Contacts:
Kley Parkhurst, SVP
ePlus Investor Relations
Tel: 703-709-1924
kparkhurst@eplus.com
STEVEN J. MENCARINI, CFO & SVP
Tel: 703-810-2596
Fax: 703-834-5718 FAX: 703-834-5718
WWW.ePlusONLINE.COM
