Library Technology Guides

St. Louis, Missouri -- July 18, 1996: Data Research Associates Inc. (NASDAQ: DRAI) announced today that earnings per share for its third quarter of 1996, which ended June 30, were a third-quarter record of 32 cents, compared with 27 cents in the same period in fiscal 1995. For the first nine months of fiscal 1996, DRA's earnings per share were 75 cents, compared to 57 cents for the same period in fiscal 1995.

The company also announced that its Board of Directors had authorized a 3 for 2 stock split in the form of a 50 percent stock dividend. Subsequent to the payment of the stock dividend, the company will have approximately 5,486,000 shares outstanding. This dividend has a record date of August 5 and a payment date of August 19. If a shareholder is contemplating a sale from the record date to the payment date, he or she should contact his or her broker as to his or her entitlement to the split shares.

"Another quarter of record earnings reflects the continued enthusiasm that the library marketplace is showing for our products and services," said Michael J. Mellinger, President and CEO. "For the first nine months of the year, our new contract activity is higher than it has ever been in our history."

Mellinger added that the signing of a contract for installation of the company's next-generation system at technological leader UCLA, as well as DRA's selection for Singapore's country-wide library automation project, were further positive indicators that the company's growth strategies were succeeding. He noted that some revenues from the Singapore contract were realized in the fiscal third quarter of 1996, but that shipments from the UCLA contract were not expected until fiscal 1997, which begins October 1.

Revenues for the fiscal third quarter of 1996 decreased to $8.9 million from $10.3 million, which the company attributed to a decrease in hardware revenues compared with extremely strong hardware sales in the fiscal third quarter of 1995. The company's revenues are divided into hardware, software and service components for reporting purposes, and variation in the mix of these components during any quarter can cause fluctuations in total revenues.

For the third quarter of fiscal 1996, hardware revenues decreased 56% to $1.8 million compared to $4.0 million in the same period for fiscal 1995. Software revenues increased 24% to $2.4 million, compared with $1.9 million in the same period in fiscal 1995. Service revenues increased 9% to $4.8 million, compared with $4.4 million for the same period in fiscal 1995. The software and service components of the company's revenues traditionally carry higher gross margins that the hardware component.

Revenues for the first nine months of fiscal 1996 increased to $27.8 million, compared with $26.2 million for the first nine months of fiscal 1995.

DRA, 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. DRA is the sole library automation vendor currently a member of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), an industry consortium to develop Web standards and specifications. DRA's World Wide Web page is located at http://www.dra.com.