NW_20010124_VASCO Announces Expected Record Revenues and Net Profit for Q4

OAKBROOK TERRACE, IL and BRUSSELS, Belgium - January 24, 2001 – US-based VASCO (NASDAQ & EASDAQ: VDSI; www.vasco.com), a global provider of security solutions that enable e-business and e-commerce, today announced that it expects to report record revenues for the fourth quarter of 2000 of between $9,700,000 and $10,200,000. The Company also announced that it expects to report a small amount of net income for the fourth quarter, and earnings per share of between $.00 and $.01, before recording the non-cash accretion of certain stock warrants and the non-cash impact of variable accounting for certain stock options. For the full year of 2000, the Company expects record revenues of between $27,500,000 and $28,000,000, compared with $19,397,000 for 1999. Included in the estimated revenues for the fourth quarter and the year 2000 is a sale to a customer in the United States accounted for as a non-monetary (barter) transaction of approximately $2,000,000. The net loss for the year 2000 is expected to be between $4,200,000 and $4,300,000.

“This will be by far the strongest quarter and the strongest year in the Company’s history,” stated Mario Houthooft, President and CEO of VASCO. “We are now seeing unprecedented demand for our Company’s products. Digipass shipments for the year 2000 have increased 45% from 1999, and SnareWorks revenues have more than doubled from 1999.”

Highlights of the quarter

--Intel and VASCO form global security alliance Intel agrees to integrate VASCO’s Digipass family of strong authentication and digital signature products into Shiva Access Manager (SAM) 5.0, Intel’s remote access authorization and accounting solution. This arrangement allows VASCO to promote its solutions through the Intel worldwide sales channel.

--Launch of Digipass Soft, broadening Company’s security software offering VASCO introduced Digipass Soft, security software that combines VASCO’s strong authentication and digital signature security with the flexibility of a software-based platform. Digipass Soft is being integrated with existing software packages and applications offered by third-party vendors worldwide.

--Opening of Singapore office to accelerate expansion into Asia VASCO establishes a sales office in a market with existing customers expected to grow 30% annually.

--Digipass 800 order for 300,000 units announced Rabobank, a leading European bank with 300 billion euro in assets and 47,000 employees worldwide, placed an order for 300,000 Digipass 800 hand-held strong authentication and digital signature devices.

--Opening of sales office in Paris to accelerate sales VASCO establishes a sales office in Paris, a leading security and smart card market. This strengthens the Company presence in Europe.

--Digipass 700 named ‘Pick of 2000’ by SC Infosecurity News Magazine A worldwide publication addressing the needs of today’s security professional, SC Magazine named the Digipass 700 a ‘Pick of 2000’ from hundreds of security products tested throughout the year.

Outlook for 2001

The Company also announced its business outlook for 2001. The Company expects revenues to increase between 35% and 40% to between $37,500,000 and $38,500,000. The Company also expects to achieve profitability by the fourth quarter of 2001, and expects to show positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the full year of between $100,000 and $500,000.

“Our goal for 2001 is to solidify VASCO’s position as a leading global provider of products that enable secure e-business and e-commerce by expanding our presence in leading financial institutions where we already have over 150 customers, increasing our marketing to corporate networks and e-commerce providers, and strong marketing programs in the United States and Asia. We expect to see continued strong demand throughout the world for our products in 2001, especially our SnareWorks SecureServer, Digipass 800 and Digipass Soft introduced in the year 2000. Sales in Europe are expected to remain strong, as well as in the United States through our sales force expansion and our new offices in Singapore and Paris”, stated Mr. Houthooft. “With an expected break even in Q3 2001 and a profitable Q4, VASCO is ahead of the schedule that we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year 2000.”

In order to comply with the requirements of the SEC’s recently adopted Regulation FD which governs corporate disclosure, the Company will, when appropriate, include an Outlook section in its quarterly earnings release intended to articulate its guidance with respect to future operating results and the factors that drive those results. The Company will keep its earnings releases, including the Outlook section, publicly available on its website (www.vasco.com) for a period of six months.

Investor and Analyst Call
VASCO will hold an investor conference call at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, January 24, 200 that will be webcast live at www.vcall.com; participants should register for the webcast approximately 15 minutes prior to the event to download and install any necessary software. A replay of the call will also be available from January 24, 2001 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, until February 14, 2001 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. To access the replay from North America call +1-888-266-2081; from outside North America call +1-703-925-2533. At the prompt, enter access code 4930558. The Company plans to release its Q4 and year-end 2000 results on Wednesday, February 21, 2001.

About VASCO
VASCO secures the enterprise from the mainframe to the Internet with infrastructure solutions that enable secure e-business and e-commerce, protect sensitive information, and safeguard the identity of users. The Company's family of Digipass® and SnareWorks® products offers end-to-end security through strong authentication and digital signature, true Single Sign-On, access control and advanced entitlements, web portal security, and PKI enablement, while sharply reducing the time and effort required to deploy and manage security. VASCO's customers include hundreds of financial institutions, blue-chip corporations, and government agencies in more than 50 countries, among them ABN AMRO Bank, Shell, 3M, Ericsson, Rabobank, SEB, First Union, Liberty Mutual, Cable and Wireless, Nokia, DaimlerChrysler, Volvo, US Department of Defense, European Commission, US Coast Guard, University of Groningen, and Duke University. VASCO's partners include Brokat, Check Point Software Technologies, Computer Associates, Intel, Netlife, Novell, Proton World, and Ubizen. More information is available at www.vasco.com.

Forward Looking Statements
Statements made in this news release that relate to future plans, events or performances are forward-looking statements. Any statement containing words such as “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” and similar words, is forward-looking, and these statements area based on current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, variations in quarterly operating results, technological changes, regulation of cryptographic technology and technology exports, and foreign exchange risk, among others. Consequently, actual results could differ materially from the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements.

Reference is made to the Company's public filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for further information regarding the Company and its operations.

For more information contact:

Americas:
Media: Kerry Roche
Bridgeman Communications
+1 617 742 7270
[email protected]

Investor Relations: Todd Fromer
KCSA Public Relations Worldwide
+1 212 682 6300
[email protected]

VASCO: Mike Lange
+1 630 932 8844
[email protected]

Europe/Asia:
Media (Benelux): Nico Tempelaere
Outsource
+32 2 361 31 20
[email protected]

Media (Europe/Asia): Sven Kersten
HBI
+49 89 99 38 87 33
[email protected]

Investor Relations: Annemieke Blondeel
LBConsult
+44 208 308 7080
[email protected]

VASCO: Ariane Bosmans
+32 2 456 9810
[email protected]