NEW YORK, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Value Line, Inc. , reported results for its fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2009. For the six months ended October 31, 2009 the Company's net loss of $29,199,000 or $2.93 per share was $44,803,000 below net income of $15,604,000 or $1.56 per share for the six months ended October 31, 2008. Net income for the second quarter ended October 31, 2009 of $2,381,000 or $0.23 per share was $8,161,000 or 77% below net income of $10,542,000 or $1.05 per share for the second quarter of the prior fiscal year. The second quarter of fiscal 2010 includes a charge of $720,000 related to the writedown of previously capitalized production software. Operating loss of $39,351,000 for the six months ended October 31, 2009 was $53,082,000 below operating income of $13,731,000 last fiscal year. The operating and net losses of the Company were primarily a result of the Company recording a provision for settlement of $47,706,000 for settlement and related costs associated with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") investigation. Excluding the provision for settlement, operating income for the six months ended October 31, 2009 of $8,355,000 was $5,376,000 or 39% below last fiscal year and operating income of $3,435,000 for the second quarter ended October 31, 2009 was $2,831,000 or 45% below operating income of $6,266,000 for the second quarter of the prior fiscal year. Inclusive of the $47,706,000 provision for settlement, shareholders' equity of $47,636,000 at October 31, 2009 was 40% lower than shareholders' equity of $79,763,000 at October 31, 2008.
Subsequent to the quarter ended October 31, 2009, on November 4, 2009, the Company and its subsidiary settled the SEC investigation that has been previously reported in public filings back to 2005 and paid $43.7 million. The settlement, in which the Company neither admits nor denies the investigation's findings, primarily relates to commissions paid by nine Value Line equity mutual funds to an affiliated brokerage subsidiary from 1986 through November 2004. Company management ended the mutual funds' use of affiliated brokerage in 2004.
Value Line, Inc. is a leading New York based publishing and investment management company. The Company believes The Value Line Investment Survey is one of the most widely read independent investment publications. Value Line also produces and publishes other proprietary investment periodicals in both print and electronic formats. The Company has copyright data, which it distributes under copyright agreements for fees including certain proprietary ranking system information and other proprietary information used in third party products, and provides investment management services to the Value Line family of no-load mutual funds and institutional and individual portfolios.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This report may contain statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions (including certain projections and business trends) accompanied by such phrases as "believe", "estimate", "expect", "anticipate", "will", "intend" and other similar or negative expressions, that are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to the following:
-- dependence on key personnel; -- maintaining revenue from subscriptions for the Company's products; -- protection of intellectual property rights; -- changes in market and economic conditions; -- fluctuations in the Company's assets under management due to broadly based changes in the values of equity and debt securities, redemptions by investors and other factors; -- dependence on Value Line Funds for investment management and related fees; -- competition in the fields of publishing, copyright data and investment management; -- the impact of government regulation on the Company's business and the uncertainties of litigation and regulatory proceedings; -- terrorist attacks; and -- other risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to the risks described in Item 1A, "Risk Factors" of the Company's Annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended April 30, 2009, and other risks and uncertainties from time to time.
Any forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Value Line, Inc. ---------------- Consolidated Condensed Summary of Financial Results --------------------------------------------------- (in thousands, except per share amounts) ---------------------------------------- For the three months For the six months -------------------- ------------------ ended October 31, ended October 31, ----------------- ----------------- 2009 2008 2009 2008 ---- ---- ---- ---- Revenues $14,866 $18,327 $29,654 $38,540 -------- ------- ------- ------- ------- Operating income/ (loss) $3,435 $6,266 ($39,351) $13,731 ----------------- ------ ------ -------- ------- Income from securities transactions, net $151 $10,084 $369 $10,716 ------------------ ---- ------- ---- ------- Income/(loss) before income taxes $3,586 $16,350 ($38,982) $24,447 -------------- ------ ------- -------- ------- Net income/(loss) $2,381 $10,542 ($29,199) $15,604 ----------------- ------ ------- -------- ------- Earnings/(loss) per share, basic and fully diluted $0.23 $1.05 ($2.93) $1.56 ------------------ ----- ----- ------ -----
Value Line, Inc.
CONTACT: William McBride, or Kreab Gavin Anderson, +1-212-515-1970
