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The SCO Group Announces Third Quarter 2004 Results

The Company's UNIX Business Achieves Profitability; Company Announces Adoption of Shareholder Rights Plan and Letter of Intent to Complete a Revised Fee Agreement With Boies, Schiller & Flexner

LINDON, Utah, Aug 31, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- The SCO Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOX), owner of the UNIX operating system and a leading provider of UNIX-based solutions, today reported results for the fiscal third quarter ended July 31, 2004.

Revenue for the third quarter of fiscal year 2004 was $11,205,000 as compared to $20,055,000 from the comparable quarter of the prior year. The decrease in revenue in the third quarter of fiscal year 2004 from the comparable quarter of the prior year was primarily due to a decrease in SCOsource licensing revenue to $678,000 in the third quarter of fiscal year 2004 from $7,280,000 in the third quarter of fiscal year 2003. However, SCOsource licensing revenue did increase by $667,000 from the prior quarter ended April 30, 2004.

The net loss for the third quarter of fiscal year 2004 was $7,423,000 as compared to net income of $3,096,000 for the comparable quarter of the prior year. The net income applicable to common stockholders for the third quarter of fiscal year 2004 was $7,501,000, or $0.38 per diluted common share. Included in the net income applicable to common stockholders for the third quarter of fiscal year 2004 was a contribution to capital of $15,475,000 related to the repurchase and retirement of the remaining 40,000 shares of the Company's Series A-1 Convertible Preferred Stock.

"Several positive developments fell into place for us this quarter that strengthened the Company's overall position," said Darl McBride, president and CEO, The SCO Group. "We successfully delivered on our strategy to restore profitability within our UNIX business which is generating positive cash flow. At the same time, we saw a nice uplift from SCOsource licensing revenue. In addition, we closed the BayStar transaction and as announced today, we implemented a Shareholder Rights Plan that will help protect the Company from any potential undervalued takeover attempt. Finally, we are pleased to have entered into a letter of intent with Boies, Schiller & Flexner that not only demonstrates their belief in SCO's legal case but will also provide SCO with greater financial flexibility."

McBride concluded, "We remain steadfastly committed to enforcing our intellectual property rights on behalf of our customers, employees and shareholders. Through the combination of the quarter's positive developments and our current cash position, we are well-positioned to pursue our current litigation through its conclusion."

For the first three quarters of fiscal year 2004, revenue was $32,734,000 compared to revenue for the first three quarters of fiscal year 2003 of $54,964,000. For the first three quarters of fiscal year 2004, the net loss was $16,834,000 and the net loss applicable to common stockholders was $9,711,000, or $0.67 per diluted common share, compared to net income of $6,872,000, or $0.47 per diluted common share for the first three quarters of fiscal year 2003. Despite the net loss reported for first three quarters of fiscal year 2004, cash and available-for-sale securities positions were $43,027,000 at July 31, 2004.

BayStar Capital

As the Company previously announced on July 23, 2004 and reaffirmed on August 25, 2004, SCO completed its transaction with BayStar Capital II, L.P. regarding the retirement of BayStar's 40,000 shares of SCO's Series A-1 Convertible Preferred Stock in exchange for $13 million in cash and 2,105,263 shares of the Company's common stock. Upon completion of this transaction, all outstanding shares of the Company's preferred stock were retired.

Shareholder Rights Plan

SCO announced today in a separate press release that the Company's board of directors has adopted a Shareholder Rights Plan. This plan is designed to ensure that potential acquirers of the Company's stock recognize fair value for the Company's assets and opportunities. Additional details of the Shareholder Rights Plan have been made available through a press release that was distributed today and through a current report on Form 8-K to be filed by the Company.

Legal Fee Re-negotiation

The Company has entered into a letter of intent with Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, its outside legal counsel to enter into a revised fee agreement with respect to pending intellectual property and licensing litigation, to limit overall cash cost of the Company's litigation to $31 million. The terms also stipulate that Boies, Schiller & Flexner will lead SCO's efforts through the duration and completion of the pending litigation in return for increased contingency.

SCO will release further details of the new contract upon finalization of the agreement.

Financial Outlook

The following statements are forward looking and actual results may differ materially. See the discussion of certain risks and uncertainties related to this financial outlook at the end of this release under "Forward-Looking Statements."

For the fourth fiscal quarter ending October 31, 2004 the Company expects total revenue to be in the range of $10,000,000 to $12,000,000. As previously indicated, SCOsource revenue remains extremely difficult to predict, including the timing and level of revenue in the near term or any given quarter. Operating expenses for the fourth quarter relating to UNIX products and services, exclusive of any charges from restructuring activities, are anticipated to slightly decline from the third quarter of fiscal year 2004 and comparable quarters. Expenses relating to SCOsource, including legal fees, are expected to vary from quarter to quarter depending on the level of, and activity surrounding, our intellectual property claims, and therefore are difficult to predict. The Company will continue to take the necessary legal steps to protect its UNIX intellectual property and aggressively pursue its legal claims through the court system.

Conference Call

As previously announced, The SCO Group will host a conference call at 5:00 p.m. EDT today, August 31, 2004, to discuss our third quarter results and key corporate developments. To participate in the teleconference, please call 800-289-0436 or 913-981-5507; confirmation code: 824670, approximately five minutes prior to the time stated above. A listen-only Web cast of the call will be broadcast live with a replay available the following day. The Web cast and replay may be accessed from http://ir.sco.com/medialist.cfm.

About SCO

The SCO Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOX) helps millions of customers in more than 82 countries to grow their businesses everyday. Headquartered in Lindon, Utah, SCO has a worldwide network of more than 11,000 resellers and 4,000 developers. SCO Global Services provides reliable localized support and services to partners and customers. For more information on SCO products and services, visit http://www.sco.com.

SCO and the associated SCO logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of The SCO Group, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group. All other brand or product names are or may be trademarks of, and are used to identify products or services of, their respective owners.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release, particularly the "Financial Outlook" section, contains forward-looking statements representing our current expectations and beliefs, including, among other things: (i) the expectation that we will continue to focus on our SCOsource initiatives and enforce our intellectual property rights; (ii) expected consolidated revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2004 of $10,000,000 to $12,000,000; (iii) the expectation that expenses related to UNIX products and services, exclusive of any restructure costs, will slightly decline for the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter of fiscal year 2004 and comparable quarters of the prior year; (iv) the expectation that expenses related to SCOsource are expected to vary from quarter to quarter depending on the level of, and activity surrounding, our intellectual property claims, and therefore are difficult to predict; and (v) our intent to continue to take the necessary legal steps to protect our UNIX intellectual property and aggressively pursue our legal claims and (vi) our expectation that we will enter into a revised fee agreement with our law firms handling our litigation. These forward-looking statements and related assumptions are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to differ materially from any forward-looking statements contained herein. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation: (a) risks that we will not be successful in our efforts to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights; (b) risks that our core UNIX business may continue to decline; (c) risks that we will face increasing competition from competing providers of operating system products and services, particularly Linux; (d) risks that the U.S. and international economic and political conditions will worsen and adversely affect technology purchases; (e) risks that our SCOsource licensing initiatives will yield fewer licenses or less licensing revenue than anticipated or that such licensing revenue will not be generated when or in amounts currently anticipated; (f) risks that we will require more capital to sustain our business objectives than we may have and that such capital may not be available; (g) we may not be able to enter into a revised fee agreement with our law firms; and (h) other risks and uncertainties set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to update such forward-looking statements after the date hereof.


                    Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
                          (unaudited, in thousands)

                                                     July 31,     October 31,
                                                       2004           2003
     Assets:
      Cash and cash equivalents                      $15,982        $64,428
      Restricted cash                                 13,506          2,025
      Available-for-sale securities                   27,045          4,095
      Accounts receivable, net                         5,954          9,282
      Other current assets                             2,466          2,450
       Total current assets                           64,953         82,280
      Property and equipment, net                        799          1,148
      Goodwill and intangibles, net                    6,090         10,452
      Other assets                                     1,390          1,072
       Total assets                                  $73,232        $94,952

     Liabilities:
      Accounts payable                                $1,825         $1,978
      Accrued payroll and accrued expenses            13,824          8,506
      Payable to BayStar Capital II, LLP              13,000             --
      Accrued compensation to law firms                7,956         10,556
      Deferred revenue                                 5,936          5,501
      Derivative related to Series A convertible
       preferred stock                                    --         15,224
      Other current liabilities                        2,038          3,347
       Total current liabilities                      44,579         45,112
      Long-term liabilities                              501            508
      Minority interest                                   --            145
      Convertible preferred stock                         --         29,671
     Stockholders' equity                             28,152         19,516
       Total liabilities and stockholders' equity    $73,232        $94,952


               Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
               (unaudited, in thousands, except per share data)

                                  Three Months Ended    Nine Months Ended,
                                        July 31,             July 31,
                                    2004      2003       2004       2003

     Products revenue              $8,929   $10,804    $27,056    $33,016
     Services revenue               1,598     1,971      4,969      6,418
     SCOsource licensing revenue      678     7,280        709     15,530
      Total revenue                11,205    20,055     32,734     54,964
     Cost of products revenue         825     1,284      2,614      3,676
     Cost of services revenue         878     1,538      3,273      5,008
     Cost of SCOsource licensing
      revenue                       7,312     1,712     15,236      3,875
      Total cost of revenue         9,015     4,534     21,123     12,559
      Gross margin                  2,190    15,521     11,611     42,405
     Operating expenses:
      Sales and marketing           4,233     5,930     13,952     18,421
      Research and development      2,592     2,950      8,167      8,142
      General and administrative    1,889     1,413      6,475      4,525
      Restructuring charges            --       614         --        498
      Loss on impairment of
       long-lived assets               --        --      2,139         --
      Amortization of intangibles     593       895      1,973      2,295
      Stock-based compensation        270       309        868        927
       Total operating expenses     9,577    12,111     33,574     34,808
     Income (loss) from operations (7,387)    3,410    (21,963)     7,597
     Equity in income (loss) of
      affiliates                       41       (71)       115       (171)
     Other income (expense), net       99       (55)     6,284        (59)
     Income (loss) before income
      taxes                        (7,247)    3,284    (15,564)     7,367
     Provision for income taxes      (176)     (188)    (1,270)      (495)
     Net income (loss)             (7,423)    3,096    (16,834)     6,872
     Dividends on convertible
      preferred stock              14,924        --      7,123         --
     Net income (loss) applicable
      to common stockholders       $7,501    $3,096    $(9,711)    $6,872
     Basic net income (loss) per
       common share                 $0.49     $0.25     $(0.67)     $0.58
     Diluted net income (loss) per
      common share                  $0.38     $0.19     $(0.67)     $0.47
     Weighted average basic common
      shares outstanding           15,242    12,469     14,389     11,753
     Weighted average diluted
      common shares outstanding    19,912    16,180     14,389     14,744


SOURCE The SCO Group, Inc.

Blake Stowell, +1-801-932-5703, bstowell@sco.com, or Marc
Modersitzki, +1-801-932-5635, mmodersi@sco.com, both of The SCO Group; or
Anton Nicholas of Sloane & Company, +1-212-446-1889, anicholas@sloanepr.com,
for The SCO Group, Inc.
http://www.SCO.com

Copyright (C) 2004 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.

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