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Littlefield Announces Q2 2000 Earnings20 July 2000AUSTIN, Texas--(Press Release)--July 20,2000-- Littlefield Corporation (Nasdaq: LTFD - news) announces its earnings for the second quarter of 2000. Earnings will be discussed in a conference call on Friday, 21 July 2000. Littlefield Corporation will continue to report its earnings on the third Thursday after the end of each quarter with a conference call to take place the following day at 11:00 AM CDT. The following report is based upon accounts that have not yet been reviewed by the Company's auditors. The auditors will review these accounts as part of their newly required review of quarterly Securities and Exchange Commission 10Q-SB filings. Any modifications will be highlighted in the reviewed 10Q-SB filing; and, if material, will be addressed in a subsequent press release. The Q2-2000 accounts do not include any extraordinary or non-recurring items of expense or income. The Q2-1999 accounts were subsequently amended.
EARNINGS YTD-1999(A) YTD-2000 Variance Variance % Net income ($209,040) $1,582,086 $1,791,126 857% Earnings per share ($.02) $0.18 $0.20 1000% Wtd average shares 9,863,714 8,616,897 (1,246,817) Q2-1999 (A) Q2-2000 Variance Variance % Net income ($334,339) $507,164 $841,503 252% Earnings per share ($.03) $0.06 $0.09 300% Wtd average shares 9,910,590 8,096,820 (1,813,770) EBITDA/L YTD-1999 (A) YTD-2000 Variance Variance % EBITDA/L $2,270,275 $3,438,412 $1,168,137 51% EBITDA/L per share $0.23 $0.40 $0.17 74% Wtd average shares 9,863,714 8,616,897 (1,246,817) Q2-1999 (A) Q2-2000 Variance Variance % EBITDA/L $991,362 $1,412,067 $420,705 42% EBITDA/L per share $0.10 $0.17 $0.07 70% Wtd average shares 9,910,590 8,096,820 (1,813,770) Currently there are 7,951,490 shares outstanding. If this number of shares were used to calculate Q2-2000 per share EBITDA/L, the result would be $0.18/share, a difference of approximately 8%. The analysis of EBITDA/L (Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation Amortization and License Fees) is an indication of Littlefield Corporation's ability to generate cash flow from its operations; but, cannot be used as a substitute for earnings. It is a measure of cash flow that Management uses in its decision making on certain critical investment decisions (e.g. the decision to repurchase shares in the open market). COSTS and EXPENSES Q2-1999 (A) Q2-2000 Variance Variance % Costs and expenses $3,859,501 $2,500,149 ($1,359,352) (35%) The dramatic decrease in operating expenses achieved in our last quarters' earnings release continues. The ability to reduce operating expenses by thirty six percent (36%) in such a short time is a clear indication that the Company's strategic plan to reduce expenses is working. The largest single component of the reduction in total costs and expenses was the reduction of direct operating salaries from $420,442 in Q2-1999(A) to $222,401 in Q2-2000. This reduction of almost 50% has a direct impact on the Company's profitability and is indicative of operational expense reduction as separate and distinct from the continuing management of corporate overhead to reasonable levels of frugality CORPORATE OVERHEAD Q2-1999 (A) Q2-2000 Variance Variance % Corporate overhead $966,155 $415,162 ($550,993) (57%) The reduction of corporate overhead consistent with the reality of the Company's ``small company/microcap'' persona has been dramatic. It will now become predictable, stable and repetitive. By our estimates, in the future, we believe the corporate overhead will be below $90,000 per month. REVENUE Q2-1999 (A) Q2-2000 Variance Variance % Revenue Bingo $1,477,602 $1,519,858 $42,256 (3%) Gaming* 2,073,040 1,480,992 (592,048) (29%) Total revenue $3,550,642 $3,000,850 ($549,792) (15%) Gaming revenues include concessions and vending income for those subsidiaries operating gaming machines. In evaluating the revenue comparison between Q2-1999(A) and Q2-2000, it is important to note that the Company altered the manner in which it provided concessions at some of its Texas bingo halls in the ensuing period. Formerly the Company recognized the revenue and expense from concessions as separate line items while currently the Company subcontracts for concessions resulting in a fixed payment monthly from the concessionaire to the Company. This has the result of comparatively overstating revenue formerly and understating revenue currently. In spite of this, Texas Bingo revenue was down only slightly by $3,108 due to adding $71,102 in commissions earned on our phone card machines. South Carolina bingo revenue increased by $40,040 and Alabama was up $5,322. In addition, the Company's revenue from gaming was impacted during the comparison period by two South Carolina Supreme Court decisions (the Gentry Case and the Referendum Case) both of which depressed play at the Company's facilities. It is significant to note that the Company's gaming operations have benefited from improved play at its facilities as well as the manner in which the Company has modified its contracts with third parties (the revised Mims & Dye transaction) to split proceeds. Gaming income was down substantially in June mainly for two reasons: 1) Over half of our licenses expired in May and it was financially feasible to only renew about half of those, and 2) because of the impending deadline of June 30 and the logistics involved in moving over 1,000 machines out of state, the final two weeks in June were impacted greatly. Gaming revenues have trended as follows: Q2-99(A) Q3-99 Q4-99 Q1-00 Q2-00 Gaming revenue $2,073,040 $1,366,613 $1,457,968 $1,885,288 $1,480,992 Gentry Referendum |