SEATTLE, SEPTEMBER 27, 2002—F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV), the leading provider of Internet Traffic Management (ITM) products, today announced it has been named the 3rd fastest growing technology company in Deloitte & Touche’s “Technology Fast 50” program for Washington state, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in the area. Rankings are based on the percentage of growth in fiscal year revenues from 1997-2001.
“In an era where technology companies come and go, making the Deloitte & Touche Fast 50 is a testament to a company’s vision and execution,” said Larry Hile, Deloitte & Touche, Technology, Media, and Telecommunications, Partner. “We applaud their vision and determination in creating a company strategy that enabled them to achieve a five-year growth rate of 46,785 percent.” Garnering a top spot in the Fast 50 for its third consecutive year, F5 achieved the status based on its five-year revenue growth of 46,785 percent. The accomplishment signals F5’s standing as one of the most influential companies shaping today’s technology economy. “We’re proud to have maintained solid growth in an increasingly competitive environment,” said John McAdam, president and CEO at F5 Networks. “F5’s position within the Fast 50 program results from our continued success in delivering the market’s most advanced traffic management products that solve real business problems. Our market leadership and growth is indicative of our employee commitment, strategic vision and ability to execute.”
About the Technology Fast 50
To determine the fastest growing technology companies, Deloitte & Touche's accounting experts reviewed company revenues for the past five years, calculated the growth percentage and then compared the growth of all the companies in the region. To qualify, companies must: (1) have had operating revenues of at least $50,000 in 1997 and $1,000,000 in 2001; (2) be headquartered in the U.S. or Canada; and (3) be “technology companies.” Deloitte & Touche defined “technology companies” as businesses that own proprietary technology which contributes to a significant portion of the company’s operating revenues or devotes a high percentage of effort to research and development of technology.
Winners of the 20 regional Technology Fast 50 programs in the U.S. and Canada are automatically entered in the Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 500 program, which ranks North America’s top 500 fastest growing technology companies. For more information on the Deloitte & Touche Fast 50 or Fast 500 programs, visit the Web site at www.fast500.com.
About F5 Networks
F5 Networks is the leader in Internet Traffic Management (ITM) and delivers application aware networks through its open Internet Control Architecture. F5 features the industry's leading set of integrated products and services that manage, control and optimize Internet traffic and content. Our solutions automatically and intelligently deliver the best possible Internet performance and availability for service providers, enterprises and e-businesses. Our products remove bandwidth congestion and optimize the availability and speed of mission-critical Internet servers and applications, including web publishing, content delivery, e-commerce, caching, firewalls and more. Our solutions are widely deployed in large enterprises, the top service providers, financial institutions, government agencies, healthcare, and portals throughout the world. The company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and has offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. F5 Networks is located on the Web at www.f5.com
About Deloitte & Touche
Deloitte & Touche, one of the nation's leading professional services firms, provides assurance and advisory, tax, and management consulting services through nearly 30,000 people in more than 100 U.S. cities. The firm is dedicated to helping its clients and its people excel. Known as an employer of choice for innovative human resources programs, Deloitte & Touche has been recognized as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For in America" by Fortune magazine for five consecutive years. Deloitte & Touche refers to Deloitte & Touche LLP and related entities. Deloitte & Touche is the US national practice of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is a Swiss Verein, and each of its national practices is a separate and independent legal entity. For more information, please visit Deloitte & Touche's Web site at www.deloitte.com/us. For more information on the Technology Fast 50 and Fast 500 programs, please visit www.fast50.com.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements relating to future events or future financial performance that involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements can be identified by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts”, “potential” or “continue” or the negative of such terms or comparable terms. These statements are only predictions and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these statements based upon a number of factors including those identified in the Company’s filings with the SEC.
CONTACTS: Alane Moran Stefan de Krijger
F5 Networks, Inc. Neve Public Relations
206/272-6850 0251 211 322
a.moran@f5.com stefan@nevepr.nl