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EXHIBIT 99.1
PRICELINE.COM ANNOUNCES NEXT STEPS IN STRATEGIC PLAN
NORWALK, Conn., December 7, 2000 . . . Priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN)
said today that it has re-focused resources on its core businesses. As a
result, the Company will indefinitely postpone the implementation of
previously planned business-to-business, term life insurance and cellular
telephone services. Priceline.com will continue to offer Name Your Own
Price(SM) services for leisure airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars,
home finance, long distance and new cars. At the same time, priceline.com
said today that it has eliminated approximately 48 positions, or
approximately 11% of its workforce, in connection with the postponements and
ongoing efficiency measures.
Also, priceline.com and SOFTBANK E-COMMERCE Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of
SOFTBANFCorp. (Tokyo Stock Exchange 9984) said today that they have discontinued
discussions to introduce priceline.com's buyer-driven e-commerce platform to
Japan. The two companies entered into a non-binding letter of intent in July and
a formation agreement in September to form a new company, but said today that
definitive agreements could not be reached and, consequently, the two companies
decided to discontinue talks.
Restructuring and other charges associated with these decisions and previously
announced measures will be recognized in the 4th quarter.
The steps taken today will relieve the Company of the significant financial and
operational burdens of launching these new businesses and are part of a broader
program to build priceline.com's momentum. This includes focusing principally on
strengthening priceline.com's travel business through new marketing programs,
improving business processes, enhancing its Web site and improving customer
service through a variety of initiatives.
"As we said in our 3rd quarter conference call, priceline.com remains committed
to building a profitable business with high customer satisfaction and long-term
growth potential," said priceline.com President and Chief Executive Officer
Daniel H. Schulman. "We also stated that we would review new businesses under
strict financial criteria. As a result of those reviews, we are re-focusing all
of our efforts on achieving profitability with our core businesses. With the
changes we are making at priceline.com and a major new TV advertising campaign
scheduled for the 1st quarter, we are excited about next year."
(more)
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ABOUT PRICELINE.COM
Priceline.com is the Name Your Own Price(SM) Internet pricing system that
provides services across four broad product categories: a travel service that
offers leisure airline tickets, hotel rooms and rental cars; a personal
finance service that offers home mortgages, refinancing and home equity loans
through an independent licensee; an automotive service that offers new cars;
and a telecommunications service that offers long distance calling services.
Priceline.com licenses its business model to independent licensees, including
pricelinemortgage and certain international licensees. In these arrangements,
priceline.com generally receives royalties for licensing its intellectual
property. Priceline.com also holds securities carrying the right to purchase
a significant equity stake in the licensees under certain conditions. Unless
those rights are exercised, the results of licensee operations will not be
included in priceline.com's financial statements.
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For press information, contact:
Brian Ek at priceline.com 203-299-8167 ([email protected])
INFORMATION ABOUT FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Expressions of
future goals and similar expressions including, without limitation, "may,"
"will," "should," "could," "expects," "does not currently expect," "plans,"
"anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," or
"continue," reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to
identify forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others,
could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those
described in the forward-looking statements: inability to successfully expand
the Company's business model both horizontally and geographically; adverse
changes in the Company's relationships with airlines and other product and
service providers; systems-related failures; the Company's ability to protect
its intellectual property rights; the effects of increased competition;
losses by the Company and its licensees; any adverse impact from negative
publicity and negative customer reaction relating to recent announcements
concerning the Company; legal and regulatory risks and the ability to attract
and retain qualified personnel. For a detailed discussion of these and other
factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially
from those described in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the
Company's most recent Form 10-Q and Form 10-K filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
