Absolute Announces Preliminary Third Quarter Results

    
                   - Revises Guidance for Fiscal Year 2010
       - Announces departure of Chief Operating Officer, Carter McCrary
    

VANCOUVER, April 8 /CNW/ - Absolute(R) Software Corporation ("Absolute" or the "Company") (TSX: ABT), the leading provider of firmware-based, patented, computer theft recovery, data protection and secure IT asset management today announces preliminary financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2010 (Q3-F2010), ended March 31, 2010. The Company also revises its fiscal 2010 guidance for Sales Contracts(1) and Cash from Operating Activities(1).

Based on preliminary financial data, Q3-F2010 Sales Contracts are expected to be in a range of $15.5 million to $16.0 million, and Cash from Operating Activities is expected to be in a range of $100,000 to $200,000.

For Q3-F2010, Sales Contracts are expected to be 5% to 10% lower than in Q3-F2009. In part, this is due to the decline of the U.S. dollar relative to the Canadian dollar, which has gone from $1.2509 in Q3-F2009 to $1.035 in Q3-F2010. Excluding currency fluctuations, Sales Contracts rose in Q3-F2010 and are expected to be up 11% to 15% over Q3-F2009. The constant currency(2) growth reflects improved performance in Absolute's consumer and international verticals, while North American commercial sales were down.

"While we had anticipated a positive impact from the computer refresh cycle in Q3, we found that a number of commercial customers continue to delay their purchase decisions," said John Livingston, Chairman and CEO. "As a result, a number of sales we forecasted to close in Q3 have now moved into our future quarter pipelines. In addition, while the U.S. economy is showing signs of a turnaround, corporate spending remains cautious and the ongoing erosion of the U.S. dollar has further dampened year-over-year Sales Contract comparisons. These factors have led to the revision of our guidance figures for fiscal 2010."

Mr. Livingston continued, "Looking beyond fiscal 2010, we remain bullish on the long term prospects for our business. From our efforts this year-to-date, we will enter fiscal 2011 with a consumer renewal opportunity nearly three times greater than in fiscal 2010 (to more than 1.5 million consumer subscriptions in fiscal 2011, up from 532,000 in fiscal 2010), and with our commercial customer renewal opportunity up more than 30% (to more than 900,000 subscriptions in fiscal 2011 from 660,000 in fiscal 2010). In addition, we have been diligently building the pipeline for our newly acquired Absolute Manage offering, and through our strategic investment in the sales, marketing and product development segments of the business, we have significantly improved our capability to execute on a global scale."

Management changes:

Effective today, the Company also announces that Carter McCrary, Chief Operating Officer of Absolute, is leaving the Company. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Carter for his contributions over the past two years and we wish him success in his future endeavors. We have no immediate plans to find a replacement for this position and will evaluate our needs in this area on an ongoing basis.

Guidance:

Based on Q3-F2010 preliminary numbers, management is revising its Fiscal 2010 guidance as follows:

    
    -   Sales Contracts of $68-72 million (was $76-82 million)
    -   Cash from Operating Activities of $5-7 million (was $8-11 million)

    (1) Absolute refers to "Sales Contracts" (invoiced sales) as a revenue
    measure and "Cash from Operating Activities" as a profitability measure.
    Sales Contracts is a non-standard measure under Canadian Generally
    Accepted Accounting Principles. Absolute considers these measures to be
    key performance metrics as substantially all Sales Contracts in each
    quarter are deferred on the balance sheet, while the related costs are
    expensed in that same quarter.

    (2) "Constant currency" refers to the Canadian dollar Sales Contracts
    that would have been reported had the U.S. dollar exchange rate been
    unchanged from the rate in the prior year. With approximately 95% of
    Sales Contracts in U.S. dollars, management believes this to be a more
    meaningful evaluation of the underlying performance of the business.
    

About Absolute Software

Absolute Software Corporation (TSX: ABT) is the leader in tracking, managing and protecting computers and mobile devices. The Company's Computrace, Absolute Manage and LoJack(R) for Laptops solutions provide theft recovery, data protection and IT asset management capabilities to organizations and consumers. The Company's software agent is embedded in the firmware of computers by global leaders, including Acer, ASUS, Dell, Fujitsu, General Dynamics Itronix, HP, Lenovo, Motion, Panasonic and Toshiba, and the Company has reselling partnerships with these OEMs and others, including Apple. For more information about Absolute Software, visit www.absolute.com and http://blog.absolute.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, the ability of the Company to achieve its revised targets for FY 2010 of $68-72 million Sales Contracts and $5-7 million Cash from Operating Activities, the attainment of certain subscription targets and company performance, the expected performance, functionality and availability of our services and products, and other expectations, intentions and plans contained in this press release that are not historical fact. When used in this press release, the words "plan," "expect," "believe," and similar expressions generally identify forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current expectations. They are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, changes in technology and general market conditions. In light of the many risks and uncertainties you should understand that we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements contained in this press release will be realized.

These statements reflect our current expectations. They are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, changes in technology and general market conditions. In light of the many risks and uncertainties you should understand that we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements contained in this press release will be realized. Readers should refer to the items under "Risk Factors" in the Corporation's Annual Information Form (AIF) for the year ended June 30, 2009. All subsequent forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, attributable to the Corporation or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as at the date hereof and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.

(C)2010 Absolute Software Corporation. All rights reserved. Computrace, Absolute and Secure Asset Tracking are registered trademarks of Absolute Software Corporation. LoJack is a registered trademark of LoJack Corporation, used under license by Absolute Software Corporation. LoJack Corporation is not responsible for any content herein. Computrace U.S. patents No. 5,715,174, No. 5,764,892, No. 5,802,280, No. 5,896,497, No. 6,244,758, No. 6,269,392, No. 6,300,863, and No. 6,507,914. Canadian patents No. 2,284,806 and No. 2,205,370. U.K. patents No. EP793823 and No. GB2338101. German patent No. 695 125 34.6-08. Australian patent No. 699045. Japanese patent No. JP4067035. The Toronto Stock Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved of the information contained in this news release.

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For further information: Public Relations: Leslie Campisi, Affect Strategies, [email protected] or [phone] x144; Investor Relations: Dave Mason, CFA, The Equicom Group, [email protected] or [phone] x237