REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - April 15, 2003 - Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2003.
Net income for the quarter was $60.1 million, or $0.24 per share
(diluted) and revenues were $104.8 million. Deferred revenues increased by $2.5 million in the quarter to a total of $101.7 million. During the first quarter, the company generated net cash flow of $79.5 million, bringing total cash and interest bearing investments as of March 31, 2003 to $1.4 billion.
"We are pleased with our first quarter results," said Gil Shwed, chairman and chief executive officer. "We continued to lead and gain a competitive advantage in the Internet security market, as well as take a leading position in some new customer segments. Our latest successes in the high-end appliance and small business segments demonstrate customer demand for best-of-breed security from a proven industry innovator. Check Point's success has been powered by our ability to meet our customers' evolving needs and deliver high-quality, innovative solutions."
Recent news highlights included:
- Increased High-end Capabilities
- #1 Market Share for VPN/firewall High-end Appliances - Prevailed over competitors to take the leading position with 32% share for combined "Secured by Check Point" appliance partners (Infonetics 2002).
- Demonstrated Security Performance Leadership - Enabled nearly 3 Gbps
VPN/firewall performance with the SecureXL Turbocard, jointly developed with partners Corrent and IBM.
- Virtualized Systems Security - Launched version 2.0 of Check Point VPN-1/FireWall-1 VSX, running up to 250 virtual systems on one hardware platform for new levels of scalability and convenience for high-end customers.
Small Business Milestones
- Gained #1 Market Share Position for Small Business - Rose to
leading position for sub-$490 appliances with 38% market share from combined "Secured by Check Point" Safe@ based security appliances from SofaWare and partners Nokia, Celestix, Intrusion Inc. and VPN Dynamics (Infonetics 2002).
- Launched Small Business Channel Partner Program - Unveiled program to enable Solution Providers to deliver Check Point Safe@ products to their small business customers with easy-to-use, affordable solutions, thus expanding the Check Point channel and reach into this new market.
Industry Accolades
- Check Point FireWall-1 received the prestigious Information Security magazine 2003 Excellence Award.
- Nokia VPN appliances running Check Point VPN-1 was awarded Information Security magazines' 2003 Excellence Award.
"Check Point has executed well on its strategic initiatives to meet the ever-challenging security and connectivity needs for our customers," continued Mr. Shwed. "We continue to take an open approach, allowing customers to deploy on open platforms such as Windows, Unix and Linux, numerous appliance platforms from our partners, and integrate solutions from over 350 OPSEC partners. This results in solutions which meet customer's price, performance, security and connectivity needs. No other company can offer such a broad range of security choices to customers."
Conference Call Information
The Company will host a conference call with the investment community on April 15, 2003 at 8:30 AM ET/5:30 AM PT. To listen to the live webcast, please visit Check Point's web site at www.checkpoint.com/ir. A replay of the conference call will be available through April 29, 2003, at the Company's website or by telephone at (973) 341-3080, confirmation code 3837445.
Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements. Because such statements deal with future events, they are subject to various risks and uncertainties and actual results could differ materially from Check Point's current expectations. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: the impact on revenues of economic and political uncertainties and weaknesses in various regions of the world, including the commencement or escalation of hostilities or acts of terrorism; the inclusion of network security functionality in third-party hardware or system software; any unforeseen developmental or technological difficulties with regard to Check Point's products; changes in the competitive landscape, including new competitors or the impact of competitive pricing and products; a shift in demand for products such as Check Point's; unknown factors affecting third parties with which Check Point has formed business alliances; timely availability and customer acceptance of Check Point's new and existing products, and other factors and risks discussed in Check Point's Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2002, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Check Point assumes no obligation to update information concerning its expectations.
About Check Point Software Technologies
Check Point Software Technologies is the worldwide leader in securing the Internet. It is the confirmed market leader of both the worldwide VPN and firewall markets. The company's Secure Virtual Network (SVN) architecture provides the VPN and security infrastructure that uniquely enables secure and reliable Internet communications. SVN solutions, as delivered in the company's Next Generation product family, secure business communications and resources for corporate networks, remote employees, branch offices and partner extranets. Extending the power of SVN is Check Point's Open Platform for Security (OPSEC), the industry's framework and alliance for integration and interoperability with "best-of-breed" solutions from over 350 leading companies. Check Point solutions are sold, integrated and serviced by a network of 2,500 Check Point partners in 149 countries. For more information, please call us at (800) 429-4391 or (650) 628-2000 or visit us on the Web at http://www.checkpoint.com or at http://www.opsec.com.