Two things Tucows can always get behind are open source software initiatives, and computer science education.
Recently we’ve been able to put our money where our mouths are by helping to sponsor the UCOSP (Undergraduate Capstone Open Source Projects), being run by Greg Wilson out of the University of Toronto.
Starting in September 2009, computer science students from several universities in Canada and the US are taking part in a set of joint capstone projects in order to learn first-hand what distributed development is like. Each team will have students from two or three schools, and will use a mix of agile and open source processes under the supervision of a faculty or industry lead.
What it really means is that students from schools all over Canada (and some from the US and Caribbean) get to earn course credits by working in teams on an open-source project – for example, ElmCity, Ingres, Thunderbird, Eclipse4Edu, etc. It’s a multi-layered challenge for them as they need to figure out how to work in a distributed team, plan their time vs. their other courses, learn how to participate in an open-source project, and…oh yeah, code useful contributions!
MarkUs: Young coders that participated in the UCOSP Code Sprint
The kickoff was back at the beginning of October, when all participants were brought together in Toronto for a weekend to meet each other, learn about their projects, and figure out how they would coordinate their efforts. From there the students have been working remotely using Agile methodologies, and blogging their progress.
For us at Tucows it’s great to get involved with some bright, budding talent and help them get a taste for delivering in ‘the real world’.
If you want to know more about the program, or get involved, go ahead and visit the website!
Jody Stocks is the Senior Director of Software Engineering at Tucows Inc.
One Web Day is here! Join us in celebrating this year’s theme: One Web. For All. Tucows believes: “The Internet is the greatest agent for positive change the world has ever seen.”
Tucows Supports Little Geeks and Internet Access
This is our second year celebrating One Web Day. Our focus is on Little Geeks and helping provide Internet access and computers to those who don’t have computers. Through Little Geeks we aim to provide computers to those who wouldn’t normally be able to afford them. Tucows is a strong supporter of Little Geeks which was founded by Andy Walker who runs Butterscotch.com, an online video network that is a part of Tucows Inc.
We are opening our doors this afternoon to take donations from the general public. More information on the kinds of systems that we’re interested in can be found on the Little Geeks website. In general, Little Geeks is seeking Pentium IIIs or G3 Macs or better. System parts also welcome. Tax receipts will be issued for computer donations. Cash donations for Little Geeks are also welcome.
What: Drop off your used computer systems to be refurbished and given to those in need right here in the Greater Toronto Area. Cash donations are also welcome. When: September 22, 2009 from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. Where: Tucows Head Office, 96 Mowat Ave., Toronto, M6K 3M1 (view on Google maps)
One Web Day Toronto Evening event
Tonight we’re joining the Toronto Internet community to celebrate One Web Day. There will be some cocktails and food sponsored by Tucows, Mozilla and WikiDOMO.
Leading up to One Web Day there were a number of creative projects including the
“I Love the Web Poster-and-Picture-Fest“. The idea was to grab a poster and take some pictures with it to celebrate. See all the great pictures on Flickr. We have an event later today at the Tucows head office and will be taking photos with posters too. Join us by taking pictures with your organizations.
One Web Day Toronto Evening event
Here’s a great OWD video that includes posters and pictures:
Eight-Year High in New Registrations Contributes to Strong Growth in Revenue and Profitability
TORONTO, May 13, 2009 – Tucows Inc., (AMEX:TCX, TSX:TC) a global provider of domain names, email and other Internet services, today reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2009 ended March 31, 2009. All figures are in U.S. dollars.
“During the first quarter of 2009, we saw continued strength in domain registrations through our OpenSRS wholesale services business, marked by the highest number of new registrations since the second quarter of 2000 and strong year-over-year growth in renewal transactions,” said Elliot Noss, President and CEO of Tucows. “In our YummyNames branded domain portfolio business, we completed a $1 million bulk domain name sale and executed an arrangement with the buyer committing them to ongoing domain purchases over the next 12 to 18 months. The contributions from these businesses in the first quarter resulted in strong revenue growth, profitability and solid cash flow from operations.”
TORONTO, May 13 – Tucows Inc. (AMEX:TCX, TSX:TC), a global provider of domain names, email and other Internet services, today announced that Rawleigh H. Ralls has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Company.
“We are pleased to welcome Rawleigh to the Tucows Board,” said Elliot Noss, President and CEO of Tucows. “Mr. Ralls brings a wealth of industry experience gained through his leadership of Netidentity.com, as well as the perspective gained through two decades of investing and portfolio management experience. I look forward to his contribution to the Board as we focus on growing the Company and realizing value for our shareholders.”
TORONTO – March 16, 2009 – Tucows Inc. (AMEX:TCX, TSX:TC) a global provider of domain names, email and other Internet services, announced today the preliminary results of its modified Dutch auction tender offer, which expired at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on March 13, 2009.  Tucows expects to purchase 4,250,000 shares of its Common Stock at a purchase price of $0.41 per share, or a total of $1,742,500.  The 4,250,000 shares expected to be purchased are comprised of the 4,000,000 shares Tucows offered to purchase and 250,000 shares to be purchased pursuant to Tucows’ right to purchase up to an additional 2 percent of the shares outstanding immediately prior to the commencement of the tender offer.  Due to over-subscription, Tucows expects the final proration factor for shares tendered at or below $0.41 per share to be approximately 99.8%.  For this purpose, shares tendered at or below $0.41 per share will include shares tendered by those persons who indicated, in their letter of transmittal, that they are willing to accept the price determined in the offer. All shares purchased in the tender offer will receive the same price.
The price per share and the proration factor are preliminary and subject to verification by StockTrans, Inc., the depositary for the tender offer. The actual price per share and the proration factor will be announced promptly following completion of the verification process.  After the determination of the actual price per share and the proration factor, the depositary will issue payment for the shares accepted under the tender offer and return all shares not accepted.
Tucows commenced the tender offer on February 12, 2009, when it offered to purchase up to 4,000,000 shares of its Common Stock at a price between $0.36 and $0.45 per share, net to the seller in cash, without interest. As a result of the completion of the tender offer, Tucows expects to have 68,823,782 shares issued and outstanding as of the time immediately following payment for the tendered shares.  Subject to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Tucows may, from time to time at management’s discretion, repurchase up to approximately 6,361,769 additional shares of its Common Stock on the open market under its previously authorized share buyback program.
About Tucows
Tucows is a global Internet services company.  OpenSRS manages over 8 million domain names and millions of email boxes through a reseller network of over 9,000 web hosts and ISPs.  Hover is the easiest way for individuals and small businesses to manage their domain names and email addresses.  YummyNames owns premium domain names that generate revenue through advertising or resale.  Butterscotch.com is an online video network building on the foundation of Tucows.com.  More information can be found at http://tucowsinc.com.
For further information: Lawrence Chamberlain, The Equicom Group for Tucows Inc., (416) 815-0700 ext. 257, lchamberlain (at) equicomgroup.com.
This news release contains, in addition to historical information, forward-looking statements related to such matters as our business, including the price per share at which Tucows will purchase shares, the proration factor and the repurchase of additional shares of Tucows‚Äô common stock. Such statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Information about potential factors that could affect Tucows’ business, results of operations and financial condition is included in the Risk Factors sections of Tucows’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements included in this document are based on information available to Tucows as of the date of this document, and Tucows assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements.
Tucows is a registered trademark of Tucows Inc. or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners.
TORONTO ‚Äì February 12, 2009 – Tucows Inc. (AMEX:TCX, TSX:TC) a global provider of domain names, email and other Internet services, announced today that it is commencing a modified “Dutch auction” tender offer to repurchase up to 4,000,000 shares of its common stock, representing approximately 5.5% of the Tucows’ outstanding shares. The closing price of Tucows’ common stock on the NYSE Alternext US on February 11, 2009 was $0.36 per share.
“We believe our shares to be an attractive investment and their repurchase by the Company to be a prudent use of cash that is consistent with our long-term objective to create shareholder value,” said Stanley Stern, Chairman of the Board of Tucows.
Under the tender offer, shareholders will have the opportunity to tender some or all of their shares at a price within the $0.36 to $0.45 per share price range. Based on the number of shares tendered and the prices specified by the tendering shareholders, Tucows will determine the lowest per share price within the range that will enable it to buy 4,000,000 shares. If shareholders of more than 4,000,000 shares properly tender their shares at or below the determined price per share, Tucows will purchase shares tendered by such shareholders, at the determined price per share, on a pro rata basis. Additionally, if more than 4,000,000 shares are properly tendered, the number of shares to be repurchased by Tucows pursuant to the tender offer may, at the discretion of Tucows, be increased by up to 2% of Tucows’ outstanding shares, or approximately 1,461,500 shares, without amending or extending the tender offer.
Shareholders whose shares are purchased in the offer will be paid the determined purchase price per share net in cash, without interest, after the expiration of the offer period. The offer is not contingent upon any minimum number of shares being tendered. The offer is subject to a number of other terms and conditions specified in the offer to purchase that is being distributed to shareholders. The offer will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on Friday, March 13, 2009, unless extended by Tucows.
The information agent for the offer is StockTrans, Inc. None of Tucows, its board of directors or the information agent is making any recommendation to stockholders as to whether to tender or refrain from tendering their shares into the tender offer. Shareholders must decide how many shares they will tender, if any, and the price within the stated range at which they will offer their shares for purchase by Tucows.
This press release is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell any shares of Tucows’ common stock. The offer is being made solely by the offer to purchase and the related letter of transmittal. Investors are urged to read Tucows’ tender offer statement on Schedule TO filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the tender offer, which includes as exhibits, the offer to purchase and the related letter of transmittal, as well as any amendments or supplements to the statement when they become available, because they contain important information. Each of these documents has been or will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and investors may obtain them for free from the Securities and Exchange Commission at its website (www.sec.gov) or from StockTrans, Inc., the information agent for the tender offer, by directing such request to: StockTrans, Inc., Attn: Re-Organization Dept., 44 West Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, PA 19003, telephone (800) 733-1121.
About Tucows
Tucows is a global Internet services company. OpenSRS manages over 8 million domain names and millions of email boxes through a reseller network of over 9,000 web hosts and ISPs. Hover is the easiest way for individuals and small businesses to manage their domain names and email addresses. YummyNames owns premium domain names that generate revenue through advertising or resale. Butterscotch.com is an online video network building on the foundation of Tucows.com. More information can be found at http://tucowsinc.com.
For further information: Lawrence Chamberlain, The Equicom Group for Tucows Inc., (416) 815-0700 ext. 257, lchamberlain@equicomgroup.com
This news release contains, in addition to historical information, forward-looking statements related to such matters as our business, including the timing and total number of shares to be purchased under the proposed tender offer and our long-term objectives. Such statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Information about potential factors that could affect Tucows’ business, results of operations and financial condition is included in the Risk Factors sections of Tucows’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements included in this document are based on information available to Tucows as of the date of this document, and Tucows assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements.
‚Ä®
TUCOWS is a registered trademark of Tucows Inc. or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners.
Tucows will now exclusively use NameJet to auction Tucows’ large inventory of expired domain names.
NameJet is a domain name aftermarket auction company that consolidates an exclusive inventory of expired and deleted domains from top domain name registrars and makes them available for auction.
Starting today (February 9, 2009), thousands of daily expired domain names from Tucows will be available for auction to the general public on the NameJet Website.
We’re pleased to be working with NameJet to auction our expired domain names, and we look forward to these names being made available to a wide audience of bidders through NameJet.
TORONTO, February 9, 2009 — Tucows Inc., (AMEX:TCX, TSX:TC) a global provider of domain names, email and other Internet services, today reported its financial results for the fourth quarter 2008 ended December 31, 2008. All figures are in U.S. dollars.
“During the fourth quarter, our strong competitive position continued to drive both new registration and renewal domain transaction volumes inside of our OpenSRS wholesale services business, contributing to year-over-year growth in revenue,” said Elliot Noss, President and CEO of Tucows. “While we benefited from the sale of our equity stake in Afilias during the quarter, cash flow from operations was negatively impacted by the timing of payables, as well as one-time restructuring costs.”
Mr. Noss continued, “The domain name component of our OpenSRS Wholesale business is exhibiting solid growth, especially relative to the rest of the domain name market. Our launches of Hover, Butterscotch.com and YummyNames in 2008 have set the stage for us to grow each of these units in 2009.
“With our email migration, employee downsizing and more favorable Canadian dollar environment, combined with our recurring revenue model based on high-volume, low-cost transactions, we will produce solid cash flow from operations, which will support our share repurchase programs and generate value for our shareholders.”
Summary Financial Results
(Numbers in Thousands of US Dollars, Except Per Share Data)
Three Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2008
Three Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2007
Twelve Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2008
Twelve Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2007
Net Revenue
19,159
18,240
78,468
74,638
Net Income (Loss)
1,019
(935)
2,075
2,676
Net Income (Loss)/Share
0.01
(0.01)
0.03
0.04
Cash Flow from Operations
(229)
2,680
2,361
8,623
Summary of Revenue and Cost of Revenue
(Numbers in Thousands of US Dollars)
Revenue
Cost of Revenue
Three Months Ended Dec. 31, 2008 (unaudited)
Three Months Ended Dec. 31, 2007 (unaudited)
Three Months Ended Dec. 31, 2008 (unaudited)
Three Months Ended Dec. 31, 2007 (unaudited)
Traditional Domain Registration Services
14,137
12,574
11,397
9,672
Domain Portfolio
855
831
175
171
Email Services
1,122
1,675
95
218
Retail Services
1,436
1,528
571
513
Other Services
1,609
1,632
417
423
Total
19,159
18,240
12,655
10,997
Net revenue for the fourth quarter 2008 increased 5.0% to $19.2 million from $18.2 million for the fourth quarter 2007. The increase was primarily the result of growth in both new registrations and renewals from our traditional domain registration service. Net revenue for fiscal 2008 increased 5.1% to $78.5 million from $74.6 million for fiscal 2007.
Net income for the fourth quarter 2008 was $1.0 million, or $0.01 per share, compared with a net loss of $935,000, or $0.01 per share, for the fourth quarter 2007. Net income for the fourth quarter 2008 included other income of $3.1 million from the sale of the Company’s equity stake in Afilias. This benefit was partially offset by a loss on foreign exchange of $2.2 million, inclusive of a mark to market loss of $1.4 million, compared to a gain on foreign exchange of $106,000, inclusive of a mark to market loss of $667,000 in the fourth quarter 2007, largely as a result of the significant weakening of the Canadian dollar that occurred during the fourth quarter 2008.
Net income for fiscal 2008 was $2.1 million, or $0.03 per share, compared with $2.7 million, or $0.04 per share, for fiscal 2007. Net income for fiscal 2008 included other income of $5.3 million, which was composed primarily of the profit of $3.1 million from the sale of the Company’s equity stake in Afilias and the profit of $2.1 million on the sale of the Company’s retail hosting assets. These benefits were largely offset by a loss on foreign exchange of $2.8 million, inclusive of a mark to market loss of $2.0 million, compared to a gain on foreign exchange of $1.5 million, inclusive of a mark to market gain of $497,000 in fiscal 2007, largely the result of the significant weakening of the Canadian dollar that occurred during fiscal 2008.
Deferred revenue at the end the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 was $54.2 million, an increase of 7.0% from $50.6 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2007 and down marginally from $54.4 million at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2008 due primarily to the impact of the sale of the Company’s retail hosting assets. Cash at the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 was $5.4 million compared with $8.1 million at the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007 and $2.7 million at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2008. This increase in cash compared to the third quarter of 2008 is primarily the result of cash proceeds of $3.2 million generated by the sale of the Company’s equity position in Afilias and the return of $500,000 from escrow on the conclusion of our acquisition of Innerwise, Inc. This was partially offset by the use of cash in operations of $229,000, the repayment of $479,000 of the Company’s bank loan, the investment of $191,000 in property and equipment and the repurchase of shares valued at $272,000.
About Tucows
Tucows is a global Internet services company. OpenSRS manages over 8 million domain names and millions of email boxes through a reseller network of over 9,000 web hosts and ISPs. Hover is the easiest way for individuals and small businesses to manage their domain names and email addresses. YummyNames owns premium domain names that generate revenue through advertising or resale. Butterscotch.com is an online video network building on the foundation of Tucows.com. More information can be found at http://tucowsinc.com.
For further information: Lawrence Chamberlain, The Equicom Group for Tucows Inc., (416) 815-0700 ext. 257, lchamberlain@equicomgroup.com
TORONTO, December 15, 2008 – Tucows Inc., (AMEX:TCX, TSX:TC) a global provider of domain names, email and other Internet services, today announced that Joichi Ito has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Company.
“We are honoured to have one of the most influential leaders in the global Internet community join our Board,” said Elliot Noss, President and CEO of Tucows. “Mr. Ito brings to Tucows a unique understanding of the Internet’s impact on business and society. We look forward to his strategic guidance and counsel.”
“Tucows is a true pioneer in the domain name and Internet services space,” said Joi Ito. “I look forward to participating in my role¬†as a member of Tucows’ Board of Directors as the Company continues to innovate and grow.”
Mr. Ito is currently the CEO of Creative Commons, a non-profit organization devoted to information sharing initiatives for creative works, Neoteny Co. Ltd, a venture capital firm investing in Internet technologies and services, and Kula Co., Ltd., an internet software company. Mr. Ito is the Chairman of Six Apart Japan, a weblog software company; and serves as Director on numerous Boards including, Technorati, the preeminent search engine for blogs, Digital Garage, and Machinima.com. He also serves on the Board of The Mozilla Foundation. Mr. Ito has founded or co-founded several Internet companies, including PSINet Japan, Digital Garage and Infoseek Japan. He has served on the board of ICANN and continues to serve on various Japanese central and local government committees and boards, advising on IT, privacy and computer security related issues. Mr. Ito has been recognized by numerous publications as an influential Internet leader. Most recently, Mr. Ito was named by BusinessWeek as one of the 25 Most Influential People on the Web for 2008.
About Tucows
Tucows is a global Internet services company. OpenSRS manages over 8 million domain names and millions of email boxes through a reseller network of over 9,000 web hosts and ISPs. Hover is the easiest way for individuals and small businesses to manage their domain names and email addresses. YummyNames owns premium domain names that generate revenue through advertising or resale. Butterscotch.com is an online video network building on the foundation of Tucows.com. More information can be found at http://tucowsinc.com.
For further information:
Leona Hobbs
Director, Communications
Tucows
416-538-5450 lhobbs@tucows.com
Today we made the decision to restructure our business, which reduced our number of employees by roughly 15%. I have just finished an all-hands meeting where I talked about today’s events with our people.
Our thoughts today are with the people who left us. They were our friends and colleagues, each made meaningful contributions to our business and were liked. We offer them our sincere thanks for their hard work and efforts and good wishes for them as they go forward.
We decided to take this step because of the uncertainty of overall economic conditions and the fact that our performance has been impacted by a number of unanticipated challenges during the first nine months of the year, including advertising revenues being dampened by the weakness in the economy and by reduced payouts to the domain channel by Google and Yahoo, which is in turn impacting domain portfolio advertising revenues and especially bulk domain portfolio sales.
I have also never seen a macro economic environment like we are seeing now. I am old enough to have lived through a number of down cycles but there are elements of this one that make it unique and that will take time to work through.
I am immensely proud of the great work our team has done together this year. The product launches of Butterscotch, Hover and Storefront. The brand launches of OpenSRS and YummyNames, and the smooth email migration to our new platform.
We are luckier than most in that what we sell, domain names and email, is more like milk and bread than like cars and refrigerators. We are also luckier than most in that we generate cash and will continue to.
As we look forward to 2009, I believe we have a strong team who will continue to innovate, to work efficiently and maintain our positive momentum. I fundamentally believe that our strength comes from our people and I look forward to working hard together over the coming weeks and months to exceed even our own expectations.
And again, today, our thoughts are with the people who have left.
