ASX Announcement – InfoChoice declares half-year profit

The Directors of InfoChoice are pleased to announce that the company has made a profit for the six months to 31 December 2002 on an unaudited basis, and was also cash flow positive for the quarter ended 31 December, 2002 and the half year ended 31 December, 2002.

InfoChoice became profitable in June 2002 on a monthly basis, and has remained profitable since that time. For the six months to December the unaudited net profit was $117,474 , compared with a loss of $1,525,627 for the previous corresponding period.

Commenting on the result, the directors noted that some extremely necessary, but difficult decisions had been made over the past 12 to 18 months which had resulted in the turnaround. Some InfoChoice information categories had been shelved, and the BecomeMedia business, acquired in late 2001, had been shut down. Reductions in staff numbers and other operating costs had been an ongoing focus for some time, and this, accompanied by a strong sales effort from the remaining core categories of Banking, online broking and the agricultural site Infarmation.com had resulted in this maiden profit.

The Directors particularly noted the efforts and success of the CEO, Lisa Montgomery and her dedicated team in achieving the excellent result under difficult circumstances.

Infochoice was listed in December 1999 and distributes a range of information services to consumers, both directly and via the media, and also provides research services to its corporate clients.

Whilst pleased with the result, Directors noted that significant challenges and decisions remain. At 31 December, 2002 the Company had more than $2.6m in cash reserves, equivalent to 3.72c per share, and in the current market there is little liquidity in the stock which is trading at around half its asset backing. Although now profitable, and with excellent brand recognition and credibility in its chosen markets, the Company remains small and with limited critical mass, in spite of being one of the few survivors within its sector.

The Directors are focused on finding ways to maximise value to shareholders without risking the hard fought gains of the past year, and continue to seek opportunities or solutions to this end. However this is not easy within the current environment given the size and resources available to the company.

The Appendix 4C for the quarter ended 31 December, 2002 is attached.

Salman Haq
Company Secretary

Attached:
Quarterly Cashflow Report (Appendix 4C)

This document is available as a PDF document. You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software to view it.

Quarterly Cashflow Report (Appendix 4C) Dec 2002

Download Acrobat reader from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html