Sunnyvale, Calif. – March 15, 2010 – Commtouch® (NASDAQ: CTCH), a leading messaging and Web security technology provider, today announced that its board of directors has authorized an additional plan for the repurchase of the company's ordinary shares in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions, in an amount in cash of up to $5 million. This plan follows the successful implementation of the previous plan during late 2008 – 2009, in which the company repurchased shares in the amount of approximately $4.9 million.
The share repurchases will be funded from available working capital. Commtouch reported a net cash position of $17.3 million as of December 31, 2009, and believes that its cash resources, after giving effect to the repurchase, will be adequate to allow it to continue pursuing its objectives. The plan will commence immediately, and the term of the plan will be reviewed on a quarterly basis by the board of directors.
Gideon Mantel, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Commtouch, said:
“As we expressed during our release of the Q4 and 2009 year end results, we are confident in the direction in which the company is heading. We continue to seek ways to further enhance shareholder value, and we believe that current market conditions present yet another good opportunity for the company to do so by way of this new buyback plan. With our strong cash position, the execution of this plan will not inhibit us from continuing to explore potential transactions aimed at accelerating the company’s business expansion plans.”
Under the repurchase program, share purchases may be made from time to time depending on market conditions, share price, trading volume and other factors. Such purchases will be made in accordance with the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Israeli corporate law provisions requiring undistributed profits as a condition to a buyback and other applicable legal requirements.
The repurchase program does not require Commtouch to acquire a specific number of shares and may be suspended from time to time or discontinued. As of December 31, 2009, Commtouch had slightly less than 24 million shares outstanding.
About Commtouch
Commtouch® (NASDAQ: CTCH) provides proven messaging and Web security technology to more than 130 security companies and service providers for integration into their solutions. Commtouch’s patented Recurrent Pattern Detection™ (RPD™) and GlobalView™ technologies are founded on a unique cloud-based approach, and work together in a comprehensive feedback loop to protect effectively in all languages and formats. Commtouch technology automatically analyzes billions of Internet transactions in real-time in its global data centers to identify new threats as they are initiated, protecting email infrastructures and enabling safe, compliant browsing. The company’s expertise in building efficient, massive-scale security services has resulted in mitigating Internet threats for thousands of organizations and hundreds of millions of users in 190 countries. Commtouch was founded in 1991, is headquartered in Netanya, Israel, and has a subsidiary in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Stay abreast of the latest messaging and Web threat trends all quarter long at the Commtouch Café: http://blog.commtouch.com. For more information about enhancing security offerings with Commtouch technology, see http://www.commtouch.com or write info@commtouch.com.
Recurrent Pattern Detection, RPD, Zero-Hour and GlobalView are trademarks, and Commtouch is a registered trademark, of Commtouch Software Ltd. U.S. Patent No. 6,330,590 is owned by Commtouch.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other Federal Securities laws. For example, when we say that we are confident in the direction of the company, we intend to repurchase ordinary shares, that our cash resources, after giving effect to the repurchase, will be adequate to allow us to continue pursuing our objectives, or that we believe that the purchase of our own shares will enhance shareholder value and will not inhibit us from continuing to explore potential transactions aimed at accelerating our business growth, we are using a forward looking statement. Because such statements deal with future events, they are subject to various risks and uncertainties and actual results could differ materially from Commtouch's current expectations. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: share price increases; other funding requirements; other investment opportunities; fluctuations in our results of operations; the impact on revenues of economic and political uncertainties and weaknesses in various regions of the world, including the commencement or escalation of hostilities or acts of terrorism; any unforeseen developmental or technological difficulties with regard to Commtouch's products; changes in the competitive landscape, including new competitors or the impact of competitive pricing and products; timely availability and customer acceptance of Commtouch's new and existing products; and other factors and risks on which Commtouch may have little or no control. This list is intended to identify only certain of the principal factors that could cause actual results to differ. For a more detailed description of the risks and uncertainties affecting Commtouch, reference is made to Commtouch 's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2008, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as otherwise required by law, Commtouch undertakes no obligation to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Company Contact
Ron Ela
Chief Financial Officer
Tel: (US) 650-864-2291
(int’l) +972-9-8636813
ron.ela@commtouch.com
Investor Relations Contact
Ehud Helft / Kenny Green
GK Investor Relations
Tel: (US) 646-201-9246
(Israel) +972-3-607-4717
info@gkir.com
