BURNABY, B.C., April 1, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Viscount Systems Inc. (OTCBB:VSYS) has announced December 2002 year end and fourth quarter financial results. Fourth quarter sales were CDN $898,000, an increase of 8% compared to 2001. Sales for the year were CDN $3,363,985 vs. CDN $3,238,518 for 2001, an increase of 3.9%. For 2002 the company lost CDN $907,371 after tax or CDN $(0.06) per share.
"2002 was a year of many challenges," noted Stephen Pineau, President and CEO of Viscount. "Although the first quarter did not meet expectations, we recorded three successive quarterly increases to end the year on a positive note reflected by the overall increase in sales. We went public early in the year and the loss we sustained was a combination of the costs of going public combined with the additional expense of completing R&D projects. By the fourth quarter these costs had been absorbed and, for the quarter, the company approached break even. Sales of our existing products continue to be healthy and our ongoing cost reduction program has continued to improve margins.
"The primary focus of Viscount during 2002 was the release of MESH, our new flagship technology, and Emerphone. Emerphone is now released and selling. The MESH technology encountered delays but our MESH TS panel is now doing well in field trials. Our emphasis for 2003 will be to continue to promote our existing lines, to expand and enhance Emerphone and to complete the initial release of MESH. The full MESH product line has been designed to be modular and our product releases will proceed in this fashion. As an open architecture platform we expect to have several years of exciting new developments. This month we are beginning to market MESH TS panels for new projects with selected dealers. Our new engineering team is completing hardware modifications that will reduce our production cost by approximately 30%. This will allow us to reach a more aggressive price point and increase margins at the same time. We expect the next phase released will be our access control module that includes card readers, alarm functions and elevator control. Additional voice, video and enhanced network functions will follow."
About Viscount Systems
Viscount Systems Inc. is a designer and manufacturer of telecommunications and electronic door control access systems for the security industry. From 1969-1997 Viscount was a R&D affiliate of Telus, itself a controlled affiliate of GTE, now Verizon Communications. The company's diverse line of products are designed to improve safety and manage security for property owners and users. Viscount's products have been installed in approximately 35,000 sites in over 30 countries and are sold through a 500 member, North America-wide dealer network comprised of security equipment vendors, including affiliates of Tyco/ADT and Honeywell. Additional information on Viscount's products may be obtained on-line at http://www.viscount.com.
Financial statements are available from the company's registration statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission which may be viewed at www.sec.gov or the company's web site www.viscount.com under the heading "Investor Relations". For further information, or to be placed on email NEWS ALERT please e-mail to ir@viscount.com. or call toll free 1-866-252-9446.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy any securities of Viscount Systems Inc., nor shall there be any sale of any such security in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.
Forward looking statements: This press release and other statements by Viscount Systems Inc. may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act with respect to the outlook for earnings and revenues, other future financial or business performance, strategies and expectations. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as "believe," "expect," "estimate," "position," "assume," "potential," "outlook," "continue," "remain," "maintain," and similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," or similar expressions.
For more information contact Greg Werbowski, Viscount Systems, Inc. Investor Relations, Toll Free: 1-866-252-9446, ir@viscount.com or visit: http://www.viscount.com