By Ann Levine October 29, 2003 – Presstek, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRST) announced net income of $2.4 million or $0.07 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2003. This compares to $621,000 and $0.02 per diluted share for the same period last year. Revenue for the third quarter was $19.8 million. For the third quarter of 2002, revenue was $21 million. Revenue for the 9 months ending 9/30/03 was $64.7 million as compared to $61.1 million through the third quarter of 2002. Topics of this summary: * Third Quarter Performance * Lasertel * New Business Opportunities * Q & A Third Quarter Performance This quarter marked the fifth straight profitable quarter for the company. Although revenues and operating income were below the second quarter performance, the 9-month results show the company ahead of last year's numbers. The third quarter was influenced by seasonality of the business, particularly with capital equipment sales. It was also influenced by inventory adjustments at Heidelberg for imaging kits and printing plates for the Quick Master DI press. No kit shipments are anticipated this quarter and the company expects the shipments to return to normal levels in the first quarter in 2004. Lasertel Lasertel, the company's subsidiary that produces laser diodes, turned in positive results in the third quarter with $400K in sales to external customers. This is the third quarter of successive revenue growth and it is expected to continue. A cash breakeven point is within reach and cash burn is down to $200K. New Business Opportunities President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Edward Marino, announced new business opportunities including: * The commercial availability of two new plates: * Applause process plate * AB Dick Brand Freedom Plate Orders are currently being taken on both products and shipments are expected in the fourth quarter. Revenues are expected to build after certification and as more geographic areas open up. * Partnership with Kodak Polychrome Graphics (KPG) With the company's new partner, KPG, the Direct Press 5034 DI system was shown at Graph Expo. The first installation of the KPG press has occurred. * Dimension Series Sales are expected to grow with the Dimension series product as the chemistry free/process free method gains traction in the market place. * Partnership with EFI EFI's new workflow solution will be used in conjunction with Presstek's Dimension series plate setters. * The Development of Marketing Programs Club DI has been implemented and is designed to grow the use and plate volume on DI presses. Q & A 1. As the company transfers to the OEM plate, Presstek will not look for inventory to build in 2004. Presstek's partner, Heidelberg, wants to reduce inventory in the supply chain and return to more normal levels. 2. Although Presstek has a positive cash flow, potential uses of cash were not revealed during today's conference call. Presstek would only state there are a number of growth oriented projects currently underway and some will require cash resources. 3. Lasertel's actual new customers were not revealed. Company officials would only indicate that the company is working a number of new customers through the cycle. 4. The company's cash was not planned for use to build up inventory for the upcoming Drupa show in the spring, nor to build manufacturing capacity in the New Hampshire plant. The company reiterated that there are a number of new projects in the pipeline and many will come to bear around the time of the trade show. 5. Presstek is in the process of getting certification for the Applause Plate and the Freedom (Wolf) Plate. The certification is expected at the beginning of next year. The Freedom Plate has the capability to be used on non-proprietary equipment and it is also going through the certification process. 6. When asked about the overall economic environment, the company indicated activity in printing area is beginning to pick up. The observation was given that the companies experiencing good results are the ones that are making improvements in their technology infrastructure. Increase in actual print volume was noted but cannot be immediately translated into potential capital equipment sales due to excess capacity in the industry. 7. In consumable revenues, the company is seeing volume increases with the Anthem plate along with similar trend with Ryobi. 8. Presstek sees continued growth in Anthem and does not anticipate a cannibalization with a transition from Anthem to Applause. 9. In terms of a customer base, on average Presstek customers will consume 30K square feet of press per year. Creo, by comparison, customers will consumer 50K square feet per year. For that reason the company is anxious to get Applause on a Creo product because of the higher volume.