St. Louis, Missouri, November 14, 1996 -- Data Research Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRAI) announced today that earnings for its fiscal year, ended September 30, 1996, were a record $4.5 million, up 23 percent over $3.6 million earned in fiscal 1995. These results marked the company's tenth consecutive year of record earnings.
Earnings per share for fiscal 1996 were a record 81 cents, compared to 66 cents for fiscal year 1995. Revenues for fiscal 1996 were a record $38.6 million, an increase of 11% compared to $34.9 million for fiscal 1995.
For the fourth quarter, revenues were $10.8 million, an increase of 25% compared to $8.6 million in the same period last year. Earnings for the fourth quarter were a record $1.7 million, or 31 cents per share, an increase of 12% compared to the same period in fiscal 1995.
(Note: All earnings per share figures have been adjusted to reflect a three-for-two stock split in the form of a 50% stock dividend, which was issued in August, 1996.) Michael J. Mellinger, president and CEO, attributed the record revenues and earnings for the year to continued strong sales of the company's automation systems, especially to large public libraries and library consortia, and to ongoing increases in the recurring revenues that the company receives from maintenance fees.
"Sales for the year increased in all three of our revenue components: hardware, software and services," said Mellinger. "Our software sales were an especially bright point, increasing 17 percent accompanied by an increase in the gross margin that we derive from software."
Mellinger also noted that significant revenues from several large contracts announced during the fiscal year had not been recognized in the company's fiscal 1996 results.
Data Research Associates, headquartered in St. Louis, is a leading systems integrator for libraries and other information providers, offering its own proprietary information services software; third-party software and hardware; Internet, World Wide Web and other networking services; and other related support services.
Summary of Quarterly Results (in thousands, except per-share data)
| Three Months Ended September 30 | Fiscal Year Ended September 30 | |||
| (unaudited) | (audited) | |||
| 1996 | 1995 | 1996 | 1995 | |
| Revenues: | ||||
| Hardware | $2,699 | $2,425 | $11,724 | $10,905 |
| Software | 3,722 | 2,412 | 9,949 | 8,513 |
| Services and other | 4,350 | 3,812 | 16,909 | 15,449 |
| Total revenues | $10,771 | $8,649 | $38,582 | $34,867 |
| Net income | $1,716 | $1,535 | $4,454 | $3,634 |
| Earnings per share | $.31 | $.28 | $.81 | $.66 |
| Weighted average number of common shares |
5,495 | 5,494 | 5,482 | 5,494 |