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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
Current Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
The Securities Act of 1934
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<S> <C>
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): October 20, 1998 (October 19, 1998)
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SHARED MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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<CAPTION>
<S> <C> <C>
Delaware 0-7416 23-1704148
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(State or other jurisdiction (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.)
of incorporation)
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51 Valley Stream Parkway, Malvern, Pennsylvania 19355
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(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)
(610) 219-6300
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(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
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ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS
On October 19, 1998, the Registrant issued a press release concerning its
financial results for the third fiscal quarter ended September 30, 1998. A copy
of the press release is filed as Exhibit 99 to this report and is incorporated
herein by reference.
ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS
Press Release dated October 19, 1998.
* * * * * * * * * *
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
SHARED MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
(Registrant)
Date: October 20, 1998 By: /s/ Terrence W. Kyle
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Terrence W. Kyle,
Senior Vice President
Chief Financial Officer
Treasurer and Assistant Secretary
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Exhibit 99
SHARED MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION ANNOUNCES
PRELIMINARY THIRD QUARTER EARNINGS SHORTFALL
MALVERN, PA (October 19, 1998) Shared Medical Systems Corporation (SMS)
(NYSE:SMS) today announced that it expects earnings per share for the third
quarter ended September 30, 1998 to be in the range of $.59 to $.61 for the
quarter which is below the company's stated earnings per share goal of $.68 to
$.71. This shortfall is a result of slower than expected sales in Europe during
the quarter.
"Despite the continued impact of slower economic growth in Europe, the
fundamentals of our business and our North American operations remain strong,"
stated Marvin S. Cadwell, President and CEO, SMS.
"North American operations continued its solid performance this quarter with
growth in service and systems fee revenues and hardware sales. However, the
outstanding success of our North American business was not sufficient to cover
the weak demand we experienced in Europe."
Added Cadwell, "Although we still expect to achieve record earnings levels in
1998 as compared to 1997, the level of that performance is clearly dependent on
improved results in our European operations."
SMS is scheduled to announce third quarter results on October 27, 1998.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Such statements, and
any other forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company, are
subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those reflected in such statements. Among such factors
are changes in length and composition of sales cycles; non-renewals of customer
contracts; inability to keep pace with competitive, technological and market
developments; failure to protect proprietary software; delays in product
development; undetected errors or bugs in software products; customer reductions
caused by health industry consolidation; difficulties in product installation;
dependence on suppliers; interruption of availability of resources necessary to
provide products and services; difficulties encountered by the Company,
customers, or others in dealing with the year 2000 issue; inability to
successfully integrate acquired business operations; changes in economic,
political and regulatory conditions in the health industry; regulation of
additional products as medical devices by the federal Food and Drug
Administration; and fluctuations in foreign currencies, interest rates, and
taxes.
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Contacts: Michael Costello 610-210-4327
Julie McDowell 610-219-6528
