Message #1 From:
Stock News Bot Date: December 10, 2004 11:12:30 AM
NCT Group NCTI, News Message Board
NCTI Reports Third Quarter Results
WESTPORT, Conn.
NCT Group, Inc.
Joanna Lipper, 203-226-4447 ext. 3506
203-226-3123 (fax)
jlipper@nctgroupinc.com
NCT Group, Inc. (OTCBB:NCTI) reported that total revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2004 was $1.4 million compared to $1.2 million for the same period in 2003. Net loss for the three months ended September 30, 2004 was $10.4 million compared to a net loss of $2.3 million for the same period a year ago. A significant portion of our net loss was attributable to interest expense of $11.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2004 compared to interest expense of $3.0 million for the same period a year ago.
The company reported that total revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2004 was $4.1 million compared to $3.4 million for the same period in 2003. Net loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2004 was $36.2 million compared to a net loss for the same period a year ago of $17.0 million. Interest expense was $29.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2004 compared to interest expense of $9.3 million for the same period a year ago. This increase in interest expense was attributable to both an overall increase in short-term debt and non-cash and other charges related to the debt.
"Within our Artera Group subsidiary, we continue to focus our sales efforts on expanding distribution of our Artera Turbo(TM) Internet accelerator service both in the United States and internationally," said Michael J. Parrella, chairman and CEO. "While broadband access remains expensive and limited in its availability, we believe that the dial-up market is a significant opportunity for us. Our Artera Turbo subscription service greatly enhances a dial-up user's Internet surfing experience by speeding up the delivery of web pages by an average of five times without degrading rich graphic images. Additionally, Artera Turbo speeds slower or contended DSL connections. In the enterprise market, we are continuing to move forward with our enterprise partner in the commercialization of our enterprise product. We are pleased that as of October 14, 2004, we extended our distribution and marketing agreement with Avaya for an additional year."
Mr. Parrella continued, "Our Pro Tech Communications subsidiary is planning some exciting product line additions in the near future." In a statement on November 2, 2004, Richard Hennessey, president of Pro Tech said, "We believe that our investment in new product initiatives is crucial to securing our competitive position in the marketplace. Feedback on our newly-launched NoiseBuster(R) consumer audio headphone has been positive from both the press and consumers, and we are in the process of aggressively developing our direct and indirect sales channels for this product."
Mr. Hennessey continued, "We have also recently introduced a re-engineered version of our Apollo(TM) headset targeted to contact centers and home offices and are excited by the response to that product. We expect that this headset, combined with our soon-to-be-available Apollo amplifier, will deliver superior performance at a lower price than competing products. In addition, we are on target to commercially introduce the ProActive(R) brand of products to the safety market in early 2005."
About NCT Group, Inc.
NCT Group, Inc. is a publicly-traded, high-tech company with a strong technology base. NCTI is rich in intellectual property with 592 patents and related rights. The company's major focus is the development of its communications subsidiaries. Artera Group, Inc. is a provider of breakthrough "last mile" optimization technology for residential, small business and enterprise applications. We believe Artera Turbo is the fastest and most comprehensive Web acceleration service on the market for residential and small business users. For enterprise applications in the U.S., Artera has partnered with a leading global provider of communications networks and services for businesses. The enterprise service can create more capacity on a company's communications network and more than double data transmission speeds without the need for investing in hardware-based bandwidth compression systems or network upgrades. Pro Tech Communications, Inc. (OTCBB:PCTU) is a manufacturer of headsets and other communications products for a variety of applications. Pro Tech is currently a leader in headsets for the fast food market and has a strategic agreement with the McDonald's Corporation. In addition to expanding its product lines to address the rapidly-growing telephony, multimedia and cellular markets, Pro Tech is developing products for other applications including consumer audio, industrial safety, spectator racing, two-way radio communications and aviation. NCTI also has strategic licensing relationships with manufacturers for integration of certain NCTI technologies into products and applications. For more information visit www.nctgroupinc.com.
