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October 24, 2001
Headlines--- EU approves GE Capital acquisition of Heller Financial Textron Finance Division Down $6 million Fitch Chgs Textron's & Textron Financial's Rtg Outlook To Neg Advanta Leasing Division Net Loss $44 Million Reports 21% Increase in Business Card Results Comdisco Sale Update Compaq reports wider-than-expected third quarter loss: of $499 million SEC gives companies credit for coming forward to report misconduct . How to Get Reporters to Write About Your Company-Dan Janal Certified Lease Professional Foundation Mentor Program PDS Gaming Corporation Reports Strong Third Quarter Earnings Edwin C. Sigel Promotes Shari Lipski, LP, to Marketing Manager FileNET/Information Mngmt. Consultants Partner/ Acenza Commercial Credit GATX Corporation Reports Third Quarter Results: $7.3 million loss Microfinancial Third Q $36.1 Million/ $2.6 Million over Last Year 3rd Q ### denotes press release __________________________________________________________________ EU approves GE Capital acquisition of Heller Financial STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) General Electric Capital Corp. announced Tuesday it has received approval from the European antitrust regulators for its purchase of Heller Financial Inc., the commercial finance company. GE Capital announced in August it would purchase Heller for $5.3 billion in cash, the second-largest acquisition in GE history. The deal would expand GE Capital's involvement in equipment leasing and real estate finance which, along with commercial finance, are Heller's primary businesses. Earlier this year, the EU blocked It will allow GE Capital to expand its financing business to small and mid-sized companies who comprise the fastest growing market, the company said. It also will allow the company to expand its geographic reach and its health care financing opportunities, GE Capital said. ___________________________________________________________________ Virus Alert Look out, there is a virus sent by Cindy Spurdle@uael.org making the rounds. This was sent to us by several readers, but we have not received it at Leasing News. Number one, Cindy has not been there for quite a while. Number two, it would be out of character for her to send a message saying: Hi! You've
got to see this page! It's really cool ;O) Number three: This is a typical virus message, and you should have a red light go off. Number four: The attachment has a .vbs. This is a big red flag. It means it has a virus worm. DO NOT OPEN. Delete this e-mail. As a matter of practice, always reply to the sender before you open any attachment, and ask if it is virus free. Even if the e-mail address is your mother, you don’t know if she sent it or if it is virus free, and only takes a few seconds to ask. We received this one at Leasing News, with subject: Lease Quote for Old Ironside Gym Hi!
How are you? I
send you this file in order to have your advice See
you later. Thanks It had a virus, too. Our PC-cillin warned us, but I recognized the “Hi! How Are You? I send you this file in order to have your advice. It is a version of the Troj-virus. ______________________________________________________________ Textron Finance Division Down $6 million “inance
segment revenues decreased $6 million due to a lower average yield
reflecting a lower interest rate environment. Interest margin increased,
reflecting higher fee income and higher average receivables. The higher
interest margin more than offset the decrease in revenues. However,
profit decreased $1 million as higher expenses related to new initiatives
and a higher provision for loan losses offset the benefit of higher
interest margin.” full press release: http://www.textron.com/newsroom/stories_04a.html ### ################### ################### ############# Fitch Chgs Textron's & Textron Financial's Rtg Outlook To Neg
NEW YORK--Fitch changes Textron Corp.'s (NYSE:TXT) and its wholly owned finance subsidiary, Textron Financial Corp.'s (TFC) Rating Outlook to Negative from Stable. Each company's `A' senior unsecured debt and `F1' commercial paper ratings were affirmed. Approximately $7 billion of debt is covered by Fitch's actions. The debt ratings reflect Textron's diverse portfolio with market-leading positions and significant breadth in product offering in aircraft, automotive, fastening systems, industrial products and commercial finance. The rating also considers management's commitment to improve credit quality and financial flexibility by reducing fixed costs and pruning non-core businesses in order to reduce debt. Concerns are centered upon the challenging economic environment, growing leverage, high fixed-cost base and declining cash flow visibility. The Rating Outlook Negative reflects continued ratings pressure resulting from a slowing economy and the impact of last month's events on TXT's core business segments. Consequently, the company's internal cash flow generating ability has weakened and Fitch expects this trend to continue during the near term. Future success with divesting non-core businesses and using net proceeds to reduce debt in order to mitigate the effects of lower profits and cash flow on TXT's leverage profile could better position the company within the rating category. Due to the existence of a support agreement between TXT and TFC, the ratings are linked. The support agreement requires that TXT maintain TFC's net worth and fixed charge coverage at $200 million and 1.25 times (x) or higher at all times. Through the first half of 2001, TFC has successfully navigated through a difficult operating environment in commercial finance and reported good earnings while maintaining acceptable asset quality. While profitability has trended downward and net charge offs and leverage have trended upward in 2001, TFC is not a negative to TXT's ratings at present. Following the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, TXT lowered guidance for the third and fourth quarters of 2001 as cash flow will be pinned down by a weaker economy coupled with softer market conditions for most of the cyclical business sectors in which TXT competes. TXT lowered earnings per share further due to overall lower demand levels across all business segments and limited forward visibility during the near term. Furthermore, management has indicated that the pending sale of TXT's Automotive Trim business to Collins & Aikman (CKC) for approximately $800 million in net cash proceeds could be delayed as a result of the slump in the high yield debt markets since CKC will be funding most of the purchase with high yield debt. Textron Manufacturing's debt to total capital ratio rose to 39.1% at June 20, 2001, up from 34.3% at year-end. The increase in leverage is the result of financing recent acquisitions and share repurchases combined with lower operating profits. During the next few quarters Fitch expects TXT's leverage to steepen further as cash flow visibility declines and debt levels moderate, resulting in lower debt coverage by cash flow from operations. In addition, Fitch expects TXT's capitalization ratio to rise above the company's low to mid-30% target. At June 30, 2001, Textron Manufacturing had approximately $557 million available under its $1.4 billion in committed lines of credit. Debt maturities during 2002 include $500 million in senior notes. Textron Inc., headquartered in Providence, R.I., was founded in 1923 and is a multi-industry manufacturing company, focused on aircraft, automotive and industrial markets. In addition, commercial finance operations are conducted by Textron Financial Corp. (TFC), a commercial finance business that also provides financing for Textron-manufactured products. The manufacturing businesses are separately incorporated and constitute a distinct borrowing group from the finance business. Through the last 12-month period ended June 30, 2001, sales were $12.8 billion and by segment were: Aircraft, 36%; Automotive, 21%; Fastening Systems, 15%; Industrial Products, 22% and Finance, 6%. Advanta Leasing Division Net Loss $44 Million “These included a $44 million charge associated with discontinued operations, principally reflecting a revision to the valuation of leasing assets and a decrease in the estimated pretax operating results over the remaining life of the lease portfolio. The leasing revision results primarily from the impact of a former leasing vendor's bankruptcy. The Company also recorded asset valuation charges of $10 million on its venture capital portfolio due to the continued weakness in the current market for venture capital investments. As a result of these charges, the Company reported a net loss for the quarter of $41.7 million or $1.59 per share for Class A and Class B shares combined on a diluted basis.” see full press release below ### ########################### ############################# Advanta Reports 21% Increase in Business Card Results
SPRING HOUSE, PaAdvanta Corporation (NASDAQ:ADVNB; ADVNA) today announced third quarter net income for Advanta Business Cards of $10.6 million, representing an after tax return on average managed receivables of 2.2% on an annualized basis. These results represent a 21.1% increase over the $8.8 million reported last quarter, and reflect an increase in risk-adjusted margin to 12.9%, as compared to 12.7% last quarter and 12.4% for the first quarter 2001. Operating results from continuing business segments were $0.38 per share for Class A and Class B shares combined on a diluted basis as compared to $0.32 per share reported last quarter and $0.29 per share for the first quarter 2001. Two senior credit card industry veterans will join Advanta in the next two weeks. Rosemary B. Cauchon has been appointed President, Advanta Small Business Services. Ms. Cauchon comes to Advanta with 16 years experience in the credit card business with Citibank and First USA. Most recently at First USA, she served as Executive Vice President for small business credit card operations and partnership/third party marketing programs, managing a $30 billion portfolio and 1,900 partnership relationships. Ms. Cauchon will be responsible for marketing, including alliances, new products, and new business development, and the analytic areas. Conrad D. Vasquez joins Advanta with 22 years of broad and diverse operational experience, including experience with American Express and Household. Most recently, as Executive Vice President of the Customer Support Division at First USA, Mr. Vasquez managed collections for a credit card portfolio of $70 billion. At Advanta, he will head the Card operating areas, including collections, customer service, and processing. "The addition of these outstanding executives to our already strong business positions us exceptionally well for the future," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Alter. Advanta Business Cards ended the third quarter of 2001 with managed receivables of $2.0 billion as compared to $1.9 billion at June 30, and $1.5 billion at September 30, 2000. The improvement in risk-adjusted margin during the quarter resulted from the favorable interest rate environment which more than compensated for a slight decline in fee income and an anticipated increase in charge-offs. Consistent with the forecasted seasoning of the business card portfolio and the current economic environment, over 30 day delinquencies were 5.9% at September 30, 2001. Charge-offs were in-line with expectations at 7.9% on an annualized basis for the quarter. Also included in the third quarter results is a $2 million increase in the on-balance sheet loan loss reserve, resulting in a 10.6% reserve to owned receivables at September 30, 2001 as compared to 10.5% at June 30, 2001. While results from continuing business segments continued on track with management's expectations, the Company recorded several non-operating charges in the third quarter. These included a $44 million charge associated with discontinued operations, principally reflecting a revision to the valuation of leasing assets and a decrease in the estimated pretax operating results over the remaining life of the lease portfolio. The leasing revision results primarily from the impact of a former leasing vendor's bankruptcy. The Company also recorded asset valuation charges of $10 million on its venture capital portfolio due to the continued weakness in the current market for venture capital investments. As a result of these charges, the Company reported a net loss for the quarter of $41.7 million or $1.59 per share for Class A and Class B shares combined on a diluted basis. The Company continued its stock repurchase plan throughout the third quarter, bringing total purchases to approximately 400,000 shares of its Class B Common Stock at the end of September. The Company intends further stock repurchases during the fourth quarter under its previously announced plan to repurchase up to 1.5 million shares of common stock and/or the equivalent dollar amount of trust preferred securities. Advanta is a highly focused financial services company which has been providing innovative financial solutions since 1951. Advanta leverages its first-class direct marketing and information based expertise to develop state-of-the-art data warehousing and statistical modeling tools that identify potential customers and new target markets. Over the past five years, it has used these distinctive capabilities to become one of the nation's largest issuers of MasterCard business credit cards to small businesses. Learn more about Advanta at www.advanta.com. #### ####################### #################### ############## -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Looking for One Good Man...or Woman---- Leasing News will have reports on the United Association of Equipment Leasing Conference, but we do not have any “stringers” for the large, over 1,000, Equipment Leasing Association Conference. If you are attending, please e-mail us about the conference. If there is a “journalist” who is attending and would like to do a report, we encourage you to volunteer. Thank you. editor
( Leasing News has several “anonymous” contacts about “unhappiness,” layoffs, and “turmoil” in the Compaq Finance Department. We have not printed them as they were not signed. We have not been able to obtain confirmation or denial of this. But in lieu of today’s report, the dissatisfaction appears confirmed. editor ) #### ############## ################################ Compaq reports wider-than-expected third quarter loss: of $499 million HOUSTON – Compaq Computer Corp., in its first quarterly earnings report since last month's announcement that it was being bought by Hewlett-Packard Co., swung to a hefty loss in the third quarter, missing analysts' already lowered estimates. The company also predicted a tough fourth quarter. Houston-based Compaq posted a net loss of $499 million, or 29 cents per share, compared with profits of $557 million, or 31 cents per share, in the third quarter of 2000. Excluding $379 million in losses on its investment in incubator CMGI Inc., the company lost $120 million, or 7 cents per share, on the low end of a warning it issued Oct. 1, when the company said it expected a third-quarter per-share loss between 5 cents and 7 cents. In the year-ago quarter, Compaq made $557 million, or 31 cents a share. The consensus among analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call was a 6-cent loss for the quarter that ended Sept. 30. Revenues fell 33 percent to $7.48 billion and were below analysts' expectations of $7.53 billion. Compaq has blamed fallout from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and a Pacific typhoon for disrupting business, which already was weakening in a slowing global economy. "The third quarter was one of the most challenging ever for Compaq and for our industry," said Michael Capellas, chairman and chief executive officer, who noted that Compaq's services and business technology sectors "performed well given overall market conditions." Hewlett-Packard announced on Labor Day that it was buying Compaq in a $25 billion stock deal, though the price tag has fallen to $19.3 billion. Capellas predicted a 3-cent loss and revenues of $7.6 billion to $7.8 billion in the fourth quarter. The analysts' consensus for the fourth quarter was for break-even earnings. The earnings statement was released after markets closed. Compaq shares fell 25 cents to $9.40 in trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. In after-hours trading, the shares fell another 30 cents to $9.10. _______________________________________________________________ Comdisco Sale Update According to widely published reports, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an objection to the proposed merger between Comdisco, Inc. and SunGard Data Systems, Inc. and is seeking a U.S. District Court injunction against the deal. In response to the Justice Department objection, SunGard CEO, James Mann, commented, "it is contrary to public policy for the government to oppose a transaction that obviously will strengthen the ability of SunGard and Comdisco to service the nation's disaster recovery needs." __________________________________________________________________ SEC gives companies credit for coming forward to report misconduct WASHINGTON (AP) Federal securities regulators are laying out a new policy that gives companies credit for coming forward to report misconduct, which could possibly accord them more lenient treatment in return. The action announced Tuesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission came a day after its new chairman promised a gentler relationship with accountants. After dealing with the stock market emergency and shutdown caused by the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center towers in New York's financial district, the SEC under chairman Harvey Pitt appears to be moving securities regulation in a new direction. Pitt, a prominent securities lawyer who was named by President Bush last spring, has said that he wants to see ''real-time'' enforcement and cut the long periods from the start of an SEC investigation to the imposition of fines and sanctions. Pitt also has said he believes securities laws must be reviewed because many are obsolete and impose an unfair burden on market participants striking a tone favoring an easing of government regulation. The SEC laid out the new enforcement policy in explaining its decision not to take action against Seaboard Corp., a company that produces and processes pork and generates energy, which the agency had investigated for alleged financial reporting discrepancies. The agency had sued only Gisela de Leon-Meredith, the former controller of a Seaboard agricultural subsidiary, Miami-based Chestnut Hill Farms, alleging she made improper entries in its financial statements and tried to conceal the errors. The SEC alleged that Seaboard failed to make and keep accounts that accurately reflected its transactions and financial position. The company, based in Shawnee Mission, Kan., investigated the errors voluntarily, eventually fired de Leon-Meredith and cooperated fully with the SEC, the agency said. In a settlement, de Leon-Meredith agreed to refrain from future violations of securities laws. De Leon-Meredith, who was not represented by an attorney, neither admitted to nor denied the SEC's allegations. Under the new enforcement policy, the SEC said credit for companies coming forward to report problems could include no enforcement action at all which it called an extraordinary step reduced legal charges and lighter penalties. ''Crediting those who seek out, self-report and rectify illegal conduct is critical to achieving the (SEC's) goal of 'real-time' enforcement,'' said Stephen Cutler, the agency's acting enforcement director. Brad Skolnik, Indiana's securities commissioner and head of the enforcement section of a group representing state securities regulators, called the new SEC policy ''a very sound, commonsense approach.'' ''It sends the message that it's in a firm's best interest to come clean,'' Skolnik said in a telephone interview. But Barbara Roper, director of investor protection for the Consumer Federation of America, expressed concern that the SEC directive could create a gray area of securities enforcement. ''There's a benefit to having a clean, no-nonsense 'We'll go after''' every violation, Roper said. ''There's a real danger that you send the message that the watchdogs have been called off.'' Pitt, who has represented all Big Five accounting firms in his law practice, said in a speech Monday to accountants, ''We want to have a continuing dialogue and partnership with the accounting profession, and we will do everything in our power to evidence a new era of respect and cooperation.'' Relations between the SEC and the accounting profession became strained last year under Pitt's predecessor, Clinton appointee Arthur Levitt. The SEC established a rule limiting the consulting services that accounting firms can provide their clients, designed to ensure accountants' independence from the companies they audit. On the Net: Securities and Exchange Commission: http://www.sec.g ___________________________________________________________________ Dan Janal's Internet Marketing Newsletter 1. How to Get Reporters to Write About Your Company ========================================== Do you want to get more press coverage? Are you afraid of cold-calling reporters? Don’t worry. Getting press might be easier than you think, according to Beth Ewen, editor in chief of City Business, the weekly business paper of Minneapolis. Unlike the “media jackals” they are portrayed as by Gov. Jesse Ventura, Ewen said reporters actually live in fear! They are afraid of: - Getting beaten by competitors - Getting the facts wrong - Missing deadlines - Getting scammed by sources To get editorial coverage, you need to convince reporters you can help them overcome those fears. Here’s how you can win at this relatively easy process. Just answer their questions, tell the truth and return calls promptly. What’s her number one tip for getting press? “If the media calls you, talk to them!” Sounds like simple advice, but she said many potential sources ruin their chances of being quoted forever when they ignore reporters and their deadlines. “PR is a process, not an event,” she said. The key is to get into a reporter’s Rolodex, because “reporters don’t use the Yellow Pages” to find sources. “The same people get quoted time after time.” --- Dan Janal is founder of PR Leads, which provides timely leads from national media. PR Leads is your fastest, easiest and most economical way to get publicity! http://www.prleads.com dan@prleads.com 952-380-1554 Dan Janal is one of the world's most respected authorities on marketing on the Internet. Author of several books which have been translated into six languages, his latest is an e-book, "Branding the Net," which can be found at http://www.roibot.com/bn.cgi?IM7800_campaign1101/ </p> _________________________________________________________ Mark Your Calendars!!!! National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers 2002 Conference April 11-14 Caribe Royal Hotel, Orlando, Florida Reserve the date. The NAELB Regional Conference scheduled for October 19,2001 was postponed until January or March, 2002. Date has not been set at this time. ___________________________________________________________________ ##### ################# ############### eLESSORS NETWORKING ASSOCIATION (eLNA) Internet + Technology + Equipment Leasing = eLNA ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1) eLNA Distribution Reaches 3,200 Professionals & Growing! 2) eLNA Launches NEWS BUREAU! 3) eLNA Launches EMPLOYMENT BUREAU! 4) 8 Days Left For FREE Membership Registration Offer! Details - http://www.elessors.com ### ################### ############################ ------------------------------------------ Certified Lease Professional Foundation Mentor Program Actually in practice when the program was housed at the United Association of Equipment Leasing(UAEL), it was in formation when moved to a separate foundation supported by many of the leasing associations. Various graduates have helped others through the test, as recently testified by the National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers Legal Counsel Joseph Bonanno, Esq., who is now a CLP. Former UAEL President Bob Rodi, and Leasing News Advisory Board Member, is joining the CLP Foundation board and there are plans to promote more awareness of the advantageous on becoming a Certified Leasing Professional. #### ################# #################### ############## The CLP Foundation is proud to announce our "Mentor Program". A group of CLP's have volunteered to give of their time and expertise to assist those equipment leasing professionals who would like assistance as they study for their CLP exam. The foundation will match up CLP candidates with CLP Mentors who are knowledgeable in areas where the candidate needs the most help. The mentor program truly offers the candidate the best assistance in studying for the exam. The mentor will review the "Body of Knowledge" with the candidate and the bibliography they receive after signing up with the foundation. I encourage and challenge all members of our industry with 5 years of industry experience to contact Cindy at the CLP foundation and enroll in the mentor program as you set your sites on becoming a CLP. I believe each CLP would agree that studying for and taking the exam enriched their leasing experience. Leasing companies may want to set out the challenge to take the exam to their employees as a form of educational enrichment to their enterprise. (My thanks to the extra efforts by the Mentor Committee members- Bob Teichman, CLP, Nancy Geary,CPA, CLP , Kris Jupka, CLP and Cindy Spurdle CLP Exec. Dir.) George J. Davis II, CLP (Vice President - CLP Foundation) Fortune
Financial, Inc. P O Box 590 Bend. OR 97709 Ph: 541-388-3187 leasing@aol.com Contact the foundation: Cindy Spurdle, Executive Director CLP Foundation PH: 610/687-0213 FAX:
610/687-4111 Email:
cindy@clpfoundation.org Website: www.clpfoundation.org (recently expanded) (content from the website):
The Mentor Program was created to assist candidates preparing to take the Certification Exam. The Program is voluntary and is offered at no additional cost to the candidate. A candidate will be assigned a Mentor upon request following formal application for the CLP Exam. Candidates may choose one Mentor from a panel of three, each knowledgeable in areas of the Body of Knowledge of interest to the candidate (as reflected in the survey each candidate completes when the candidate enrolls in the Certification Program.) Or, the candidate may request a specific individual. All Mentors hold the CLP designation and will answer questions about the conduct of the exam, assist the candidate in understanding and interpreting areas of the Body of Knowledge and generally provide intellectual, experiential and moral support. Mentors are not instructors or tutors. The candidate is expected to learn the required material on his or her own by studying written materials, by taking available industry courses and through industry work experience. Mentors will provide clarification and interpretation for subjects the candidate has already studied. For instance, the Mentor will clarify Present Value Theory, but will not teach the Theory. As with all aspects of the CLP test preparation process, the Mentor Program is completely confidential. If you wish to protect your privacy even further, you may request a Private Plan. Under this program your anonymity is maintained and protected from the time of your initial application through and beyond the test. Please contact the CLP Foundation for details. For more information contact the CLP Foundation.
George J. Davis II, CLP Fortune
Financial, Inc. P O Box 590 Bend. OR 97709 Ph: 541-388-3187 ### ################## ##################### ############# PDS Gaming Corporation Reports Strong Third Quarter Earnings
Nine-Month Diluted EPS More Than Double To 0.36 Versus $0.16 in Prior-Year Period LAS VEGAS, -- PDS Gaming Corporation (Nasdaq: PDSG), a diversified gaming company that finances, leases, sells, manufactures and refurbishes gaming equipment for the casino industry and operates gaming facilities, today reported its operating results for the third quarter and first nine months of 2001. For the quarter ended September 30, 2001, the Company reported net income of $386,000, or $0.10 per diluted share, compared with net income $177,000, or $0.05 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2000. Revenues increased 11% to $12.5 million, versus $11.3 million in the prior-year quarter. The increase is primarily attributable to higher operating lease rentals and fee income, partially offset by a decrease in sales-type lease revenue. The Company completed approximately $4.0 million in new financing originations during the quarter ended September 30, 2001, compared with $8.1 million in the year-earlier quarter. Shipments of gaming devices decreased from a record 2,000 units in the prior-year quarter to 1,500 in the quarter ended September 30, 2001. Such shipments include games sold, as well as games placed with customers under lease agreements. For the nine months ended September 30, 2001, the Company's net income increased 137% to approximately $1.4 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, compared with net income of $582,000, or $0.16 per diluted share, in the first nine months of 2000. Revenues approximated $35.8 million for the nine months ended 2001, compared with $43.3 million in the corresponding period of the previous year. The Company completed $41.2 million in financing originations during the first nine months of 2001, compared with $19.4 million in the same period of 2000, and shipped approximately 4,900 and 3,600 gaming devices in the nine months ended September 30, 2001, and 2000, respectively. "We are very pleased with our results for the third quarter and first nine months of 2001, that benefited from higher fee income, along with year-to-year growth and a maturing of our finance and lease portfolio," stated Peter Cleary, President and Chief Operating Officer of PDS Gaming Corporation. "In addition, we are experiencing slight margin improvement in our Casino Slot Exchange division, and the recent gaming industry trade shows confirm our enthusiasm for our new digital table games." "Management has received numerous calls from concerned investors during the past several weeks, in light of widely publicized predictions that the casino industry will suffer greatly as a result of the terrorist attacks on September 11th. While Wall Street analysts have forecast declines in near-term revenues for many major casinos in Las Vegas, we have seen no signs of weakness in our core business segments. It is important to remember that PDS Gaming's customer base is diversified throughout gaming jurisdictions in eleven states and certain Native American tribes in California, Iowa and New Mexico. The majority of casino operators that purchase, finance, or lease gaming equipment from PDS Gaming cater to customers that live nearby or who drive to their facilities. Most of our customers are not heavily dependent upon convention events or airline travel for their customer traffic. Some economists are forecasting that the U.S. economy is already in a recession, or that concerns over terrorism may tip the economy into recession in the next few months," continued Cleary. "During periods of economic uncertainty, the gaming public may be more likely to patronize casinos closer to home, but they are unlikely to sharply reduce their participation in gaming as a leisure time activity. Casino operators, on the other hand, may wish to conserve cash during these uncertain times, and PDS Gaming's lease and finance programs are designed to accomplish such goals for our customers. The foregoing notwithstanding, the near and long-term effects of these events on the Southern Nevada and other regional economies and the Company's business cannot be predicted at this time." "One of the Company's significant customers, filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2000. On October 12, 2001, the customer filed suit against the Company. The Company intends to vigorously defend itself and believes resolving the matter will not have a material adverse impact on the Company's financial position", stated Cleary. PDS Gaming Corporation provides customized finance and leasing solutions, used gaming devices and digital table game products to the casino industry in the United States. The Company also operates The Gambler casino in Reno, Nevada and plans to acquire additional gaming facilities. PDS Gaming Corporation is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, and its common stock trades on The Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol "PDSG." #### ############################### ###################### Edwin C. Sigel Promotes Shari Lipski,CLP, to Marketing Manager
Edwin C. Sigel, Ltd., CPA’s and Lease Portfolio Managers, Northbrook, Illinois, is pleased to announce that Shari L. Lipski, CLP has been promoted to the position of Marketing Manager. In her new position, Ms. Lipski will be responsible for the implementation of all marketing related activities with a broad focus on business development for the company’s leasing and accounting customer base. Ms. Lipski will also continue to be responsible for the origination of new customer relationships within the lease portfolio management division. ( courtesy of ELAonline.com )
##### ################### ################################### FileNET and Information Management Consultants Partner to Deliver Acenza Commercial Credit
LAS VEGAS A New Addition to the Acenza for Finance Suite of Solutions for Managing Complex Business Processes for Commercial Lending and Leasing Operations FileNET Corp. (Nasdaq:FILE), a leading provider of Business Process and Enterprise Content Management solutions, today announced from UserNET a partnership with Information Management Consultants Inc. (IMC), a leading information management firm providing a full range of services, to jointly develop Acenza(TM) for Finance eBusiness applications. The first joint application under development is Acenza Commercial Credit, targeted at financial services organizations seeking to integrate core business systems to expedite the processing of commercial loans and leases. Acenza Commercial Credit automates the processing of a commercial loan or lease by linking existing independent lending applications and manual procedures. By providing browser-based access to all documents and information throughout the lending/leasing cycle, Acenza Commercial Credit will automate the steps required by all parties involved in the loan/lease review and approval process and enable organizations to better service customers by providing a single view into the customer's account, including real-time status on the lending/leasing process. Acenza Commercial Credit will allow financial services organizations to capture, maintain and control data, documents and information outside traditional back-office legacy applications. Increased revenue results from improved processing efficiency and lower processing costs while customer satisfaction improves due to shortened approval time and enhanced customer service. "FileNET and IMC have a long history of delivering innovative solutions to organizations in many industries, including financial services," said Martyn Christian, senior vice president, corporate marketing for FileNET. "The collective expertise both organizations share of commercial lending, along with Acenza's content and process strengths, will result in a solution that financial services organizations can quickly implement to enable collaboration via the Web among the appropriate people, systems and processes." "Acenza Commercial Credit will give financial organizations complete visibility to the numerous sources of information required to make well informed, timely loan decisions and to service customers throughout the lifecycle of the relationship," explained Carol Keuch, vice president of process & content solutions at IMC. "This solution addresses the primary challenges commercial lenders face today -- removing information silos, integrating multiple business systems and creating an end-to-end view of the loan or leasing process." Powered by Panagon, Acenza eBusiness applications improve operational efficiency, increase customer intimacy and provide improved customer response times that are critical in today's competitive business arena. Acenza's configuration approach to implementation means that projects can be completed sooner, meet specific industry requirements and quickly deliver return on investment. With Acenza's flexible architecture, the solution can grow and evolve to meet changing business needs. About FileNET FileNET provides "The Substance Behind eBusiness"(TM) by delivering Business Process Management (BPM) solutions that improve operational efficiency and leverage information resources. FileNET's BPM solutions are designed for both the enterprise content management and |
