CheckFree Corporation Calls Convertible Subordinated Notes
November 12 2003 - 8:01AM
PR Newswire (US)
CheckFree Corporation Calls Convertible Subordinated Notes ATLANTA,
Nov. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CheckFree Corporation today
announced it is calling for redemption on December 12, 2003, all of
its 6.5% Convertible Subordinated Notes due 2006 (the "Notes"). The
Notes were originally issued on November 29, 1999, in the aggregate
principal amount of $172,500,000, and such amount is currently
outstanding. The CUSIP numbers for the Notes are 162816 AA0 and
162816 AC6. Prior to 5:00 p.m. (EST) on December 11, 2003, holders
may convert their Notes called for redemption into shares of
CheckFree Corporation common stock at a price of $73.20 per share,
or 13.6612 shares of CheckFree common stock per $1,000 principal
amount of the Notes. Cash will be paid in lieu of fractional
shares. On November 11, 2003, the last reported sale price of
CheckFree common stock on the NASDAQ National Market was $26.85 per
share. Alternatively, holders may have their Notes redeemed on
December 12, 2003. Upon redemption, holders will receive a total of
$1,029.886 per $1,000 principal amount of the Notes, consisting of
the redemption price of $1,027.90 plus accrued and unpaid interest
thereon from December 1, 2003 through December 11, 2003 of $1.986.
Interest on the Notes for the six months ended November 30, 2003,
will be paid on December 1, 2003, as scheduled pursuant to the
terms of the Indenture governing the Notes. Any Notes called for
redemption and not converted on or before 5:00 p.m. (EST) on
December 11, 2003, will be automatically redeemed on December 12,
2003, and no further interest will accrue. "Calling the Notes
eliminates interest payments of $11.2 million per year through
November 2006, or a total of $33.3 million for the remaining life
of the bonds," said CheckFree's Chief Financial Officer David
Mangum. "With total cash and investments of $424.4 million as of
September 30, 2003, we believe this is an appropriate time to call
the Notes." "The Company expects to incur a one-time pre-tax charge
to GAAP earnings of $7.2 million for the second quarter of fiscal
2004, representing the cost of the call premium and remaining
unamortized issuance costs," Mangum continued. "As a result, we now
expect a GAAP loss per share in the second quarter of $0.01 to
$0.04, rather than the earnings per share of $0.01 to $0.04 we
previously announced, and underlying earnings per share to remain
unchanged for the quarter. For the full year, our GAAP expectation
of breakeven to modestly positive remains unchanged, as the
reduction in interest expense will generally offset the one-time
charge. And we expect an additional $0.03 of underlying earnings
per share for fiscal 2004 as a result of the interest expense
reduction." A Notice of Redemption is being sent to registered
holders of the Notes. Copies of the Notice of Redemption may be
obtained from the paying agent, Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota, N.A.,
at 1-800-344-5128. About CheckFree ( http://www.checkfreecorp.com/
) CheckFree (NASDAQ:CKFR) is the leading provider of financial
electronic commerce services and products. Founded in 1981 and
celebrating its 23rd year in e-commerce, CheckFree is comprised of
three divisions: Electronic Commerce, Software, and Investment
Services. CheckFree launched the first fully integrated electronic
billing and payment solution in 1997. In the quarter ended
September 30, 2003, more than 11 million consumers initiated online
payments through services offered by CheckFree's Electronic
Commerce division. Electronic billing and payment is available
through more than a thousand financial services organizations,
including banks, brokerage firms, Internet portals and personal
financial management (PFM) software. At these sites, consumers are
able to electronically receive and pay about 300 bills,
representing the bills most common to a U.S. household. CheckFree
delivers nearly 15 million e-bills each quarter. CheckFree
Investment Services provides a broad range of investment management
services to thousands of financial institutions nationwide. The
division's clients manage more than 1.3 million portfolios totaling
more than $700 billion in assets. CheckFree's Software division
provides solutions through three operating units: CheckFree ACH
Solutions, CheckFree Financial and Compliance Solutions (CFACS),
and CheckFree i-Solutions. CheckFree ACH Solutions provides
software and services that are used to process more than two-thirds
of the nation's nine billion Automated Clearing House payments,
while CFACS provides reconciliation and compliance software and
services to more than 500 organizations in the banking, brokerage,
utility, retail, insurance and credit card industries, among
others. CheckFree i-Solutions is the leading provider of e-billing
and e-statement software and services for both business-to-
consumer and business-to-business applications, with more billers
as clients than all of its competitors have combined. Certain of
CheckFree's statements in this press release are not purely
historical, and as such are "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These include statements regarding management's intentions, plans,
beliefs, expectations or projections of the future, and include
statements in the document regarding forecasts and expectations of
earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2004 and for the fiscal
year 2004 as a whole (paragraphs 4 and 5). Forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties, including without
limitation, the various risks inherent in CheckFree's business, and
other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in
CheckFree's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including CheckFree's Annual Report on Form 10-K for
the year ended June 30, 2003 (filed September 15, 2003). One or
more of these factors have affected, and could in the future
affect, CheckFree's business and financial results in future
periods, and could cause actual results to differ materially from
plans and projections. There can be no assurance that the
forward-looking statements made in this document will prove to be
accurate, and the issuance of such forward-looking statements
should not be regarded as a representation by CheckFree, or any
other person, that the objectives and plans of CheckFree will be
achieved. All forward- looking statements made in this press
release are based on information presently available to management,
and CheckFree assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking
statements. DATASOURCE: CheckFree Corporation CONTACT: Media
relations, Judy DeRango Wicks, +1-678-375-1595, or , or Investor
relations, Tina Moore, +1-678-375-1278, or , both of CheckFree
Corporation Web site: http://www.checkfreecorp.com/ Company News
On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/821650.html
Copyright
Checkfree Corp (MM) (NASDAQ:CKFR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Checkfree Corp (MM) (NASDAQ:CKFR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024