NetStamps Label Sales Continue at a Strong Pace; Company Provides Updates on Several Fronts
Judge Orders DM Series of Postage Meters to be Included in Stamps.com’s Patent Infringement Suit against Pitney Bowes
Santa Monica, Calif. – September 12, 2002 – Stamps.com (Nasdaq: STMP) today announced that customer acceptance of NetStamps continues to be strong, with over 330 thousand NetStamps label sheets sold in the first 6 weeks following launch. Additionally, in Stamps.com’s patent infringement suit against Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI), the judge recently ordered that the DM Series of postage meters should be included as part of the suit. The company also recently implemented a simplified customer registration process, and completed its third quarter 2002 share repurchase program.
The company continues to see positive customer response to the NetStamps feature which enables users to print postage that can be used as easily as regular stamps. In the first six weeks following the launch of the NetStamps feature, Stamps.com has sold over 330 thousand NetStamps label sheets. Stamps.com also released a new customer registration process late last month, greatly reducing the time and confusion involved in becoming a Stamps.com customer. The new registration process reduces the number of screens for which customer input is required from nine screens to three, and makes the registration process much more straightforward.
“We continue to be very pleased with the initial customer acceptance of our new NetStamps feature,” said Ken McBride, chief executive officer of Stamps.com. “In addition, we continue to make progress on our 2002 product transformation with the recent introduction of our simplified customer registration process that will remove some additional barriers in converting prospects to customers.”
In Stamps.com’s patent litigation against Pitney Bowes in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, U.S. District Judge Joseph J. Farnan, Jr. ruled on September 6, 2002 that, among other things, “the DM mailer product of Pitney Bowes is within the scope of the patent claims asserted in this litigation, and therefore discovery concerning the DM Mailer will be permitted.” The DM Series is a line of digital metering products introduced by Pitney Bowes in April 2002, in what Pitney Bowes has called its “most extensive and technologically advanced line of solutions [they] have introduced in [their] 82 year history.” This order by the judge follows the June 20 dismissal without prejudice of Pitney Bowes’ remaining claims of patent infringement in the suit against the iShip business that was previously owned by Stamps.com.
Stamps.com also reported that during the third quarter 2002 it repurchased 1.3 million shares of its stock at an average price of $4.24 for a total of approximately $5.6 million. The third quarter shares repurchased represented approximately 2.6% of the weighted average shares outstanding for the second quarter. The share buyback was conducted under authorization of the share repurchase program, approved by the company’s Board of Directors in April 2002. The company will not purchase any additional shares prior to the announcement of its third quarter results.
About Stamps.com
Stamps.com (Nasdaq: STMP) is a leading provider of Internet-based postage services. Stamps.com enables customers to print U.S. Postal Service-approved postage with just a PC, printer and Internet connection. The company targets its services to small businesses, home offices, and individuals, and currently has partnerships with companies including Auctionwatch, Comp USA, Earthlink, HP, Microsoft, NCR, Office Depot, PayPal and the U.S. Postal Service.
“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors, including the company’s ability to complete its products and obtain regulatory approval, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, are detailed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission made from time to time by Stamps.com, including its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2001, and its Current Reports on Form 8-K. Stamps.com undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Stamps.com, the Stamps.com logo and NetStamps are trademarks of Stamps.com Inc. All other brands and names are property of their respective owners.