News Release
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Peter
J. Mundy
Vice
President - CFO
(631)
739-2000
SENTRY TECHNOLOGY REPORTS FOURTH QUARTER PROFIT
RONKONKOMA,
New York, March 31, 2005, -- Sentry Technology Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board:
SKVY) today reported financial results for the Company’s fourth quarter and
year ended December 31, 2004.
Revenues for the fourth
quarter of 2004 were $4,901,000, compared to revenues of $3,353,000 reported in
the fourth quarter of the prior year.
The Company generated operating income for the current quarter of
$380,000 as compared to $47,000 for the same period of 2003. Net income was $172,000, or $0.00 per share,
in the fourth quarter of 2004 as compared to a net loss of $109,000, or $(0.00)
per share, in the fourth quarter of 2003.
For the year ended December 31, 2004, revenues were $16,665,000, compared to $13,126,000 reported in the previous year. The increase in revenues is primarily related to higher sales of EAS products principally as a result of the ID Systems acquisition as well as an increase in sales of the Company’s proprietary SmartTrack traveling camera systems. There was operating income of $665,000 in 2004, compared to an operating loss of $378,000 in 2003. Net income was $31,000, or $0.00 per share in 2004, compared to $181,000, or $0.00 per share in 2003. Included in the net income for 2003 were extraordinary gains of $738,000, or $0.01 per share, related to the settlement with trade creditors of past due debt and the termination of its long-term lease with its prior landlord for the Hauppauge, New York facility.
“We are pleased to report growth in revenues and our third consecutive quarterly profit since the acquisition of ID Systems in May 2004,” said Peter L. Murdoch, President and CEO of Sentry Technology Corporation. “However, we are disappointed that Lowe’s Home Center, our largest customer, decided not to renew its annual maintenance agreement for 2005. This contract represented $0.9 million of our revenues in 2004 and contributed towards the selection of Sentry as a vendor for replacement and add–on CCTV business in existing and new Lowe’s locations. We anticipate that this decision will result in a substantial decrease in future revenues from Lowe’s on a comparative basis. Customer service and administrative expense reductions have been made to compensate for this expected loss in business. At the same time, we have increased funding of sales and marketing programs, which we expect will continue to increase our business with new and existing customers. Recently we have installed our SentryVision® Video Server along with wireless hand held controls for SmartTrack in two major accounts. We believe this application of our proprietary products will open new growth opportunities for Sentry.”
Sentry Technology Corporation designs, manufactures, sells and installs a complete line of Radio Frequency (RF) and Electro-Magnetic (EM) EAS systems and Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) solutions. The CCTV product line features the proprietary SentryVisionâ SmartTrack patented traveling Surveillance System. The Company’s products are used by retailers to deter shoplifting and internal theft and by industrial and institutional customers to protect assets and people. The Company’s acquisition of ID Systems expands the Company’s product offering to include proximity Access Control and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) solutions. For further information, please visit our website at www.sentrytechnology.com.
This press
release may include information that could constitute forward-looking
statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any such
forward-looking statements may involve risk and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from any future results encompassed within
the forward-looking statements. Factors
that could cause or contribute to such differences include those matters
disclosed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.