Revenues for the first quarter were $42.0 million, an increase of $5.5 million, or 15%, from the first quarter of last year. Subscriptions and transactions revenue increased 39% from the first quarter of last year to $11.5 million.

Gross margin for the first quarter was $23.5 million, an increase of $2.4 million from the first quarter of last year. Net income for the first quarter was $2.7 million, or diluted net income per share of $0.08.

Core net income for the first quarter was $8.6 million after excluding acquisition-related expenses of $3.3 million and equity-based compensation of $2.6 million. Core net income increased $1.8 million, or 26%, from the first quarter of last year. Core earnings per share was $0.27.

"We executed very well across all areas of the business in the first quarter, providing a strong start to the fiscal year," said Rob Eberle, President and CEO of Bottomline Technologies. "We continue to see strong demand for our WebSeries® Cash Management platform from global financial institutions and corporations alike. Channel distribution of our Paymode-XTM platform is very encouraging as is the demand from our corporate customers for our traditional payment solutions. From a financial perspective, we generated strong growth in revenues and core net income. Strategically, we launched several major new product initiatives which we are confident will increase our competitive differentiation and long-term revenue growth. Finally, we are well positioned to pursue strategic acquisitions that will strengthen our market position and future profitability."

First Quarter Customer Highlights

• Extended our relationship with a top five global bank by selling a multi-lingual, multi-currency payments solution enabling the institution to support its customers globally and enter new geographic markets.

• Welcomed significant new customers such as Excell Communications, G-III Apparel Group, Gatroup, Gatwick Airport and Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group which selected Bottomline solutions for increased efficiency, security and visibility of payment and transactional document processes.

• Strengthened existing customer relationships through orders to expand existing implementations of Bottomline solutions from organizations such as 3M, Anglo Irish Bank, BNP Paribas, Choctaw Nation, CIGNA, The Home Depot, LOGIS, Marriott International, MetLife and Sony.

• Increased our penetration into the Healthcare vertical with new customer Sentry Healthcare Services and deepened our relationships with Excela Health, Hoag Memorial Hospital, Loma Linda University Medical Center, Maricopa Integrated Health Systems and West Jefferson Medical Center.

First Quarter Strategic Corporate Highlights

• Hosted a European Bottomline Customer Forum with executives from leading corporations, financial institutions and public sector organizations including Prudential plc, Banco Santander, TDG, Trinity Mirror Shared Services, Virgin Media, and Warner Music Group.

• Hosted Legal eXchange® customers including American Family Insurance, Bayer, Church Mutual, John Hancock, Liberty Mutual and Markel at the Bottomline Customer Advisory Board highlighting best practices and trends in legal spend management.

• Included in the Software 500, Software Magazine's ranking of the world's largest software and service providers for the seventh straight year.

• Awarded a patent for image data capture technology facilitating the manner in which customers digitize paper invoices, reduce costs and streamline Accounts Payable processing.

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