"The first quarter has been a challenging quarter, but we are satisfied that we have good growth and continuing good profitability", says Henning Hansen, President & CEO of Norman ASA. "In a market characterized by uncertainty and generally limited willingness by companies to invest, it is good to see that we continue to deliver good results".

Virus control with 12% organic growth and 21% EBITDA margin

Virus control, Norman's largest business unit, had net revenues of NOK 44.9 million in the first quarter, an increase of 12% compared to first quarter 2002. EBITDA for the quarter was NOK 9.3 million.

The growth in Europe, excluding Norway, was 20% and growth in Norway was 11%. This is a clear improvement on 2002 and is higher than the growth estimates of 10% for 2003 from Gartner Group, published at the end of January 2003.

The development of the company's patent-applied technology, Sandbox, is continuing as planned and this technology is receiving more and more attention within the leading parts of the IT security industry. Network Computing magazine, among others, has written about the Sandbox technology and points to Norman's leading position within the development of a proactive defense against viruses in an IT infrastructure.

In February, Norman received its twentieth "100% award" from Virus Bulletin, the independent test organisation. Norman is therefore one of the three best vendors when it comes to awards from this external test organization, and no competitor has received more "100% awards" than Norman. This is confirmation of the ability of the company's main product to both find and remove computer viruses.

Ibas - flat in the first quarter, EBITDA margin of 6%

In the first quarter, Ibas had net revenues of NOK 17.1 million, which is level with the revenue in the first quarter 2002. EBITDA for the period was NOK 1.1 million, a margin of 6%. The EBITDA margin for data recovery and data erasure combined was 17% in the first quarter.

The first quarter 2003 was weaker than expected though one should expect that the market for recovery services will show the same seasonality as in previous years. It is especially in Germany where the revenue has been disappointing while Norway has performed well.

Ibas is continuing its planned investment within computer forensic and sees an increased awareness in the market for this type of service.

In the first quarter, Ibas was engaged to analyse data from hard drives on board the KNM Orkla, a vessel which burned and then sank off the Norwegian coast.

During the first quarter, Ibas reduced its staffing by 5% and will continually assess the measures necessary to adjust the cost base to the market requirements for the company's products and services.

Financial situation and future expectations

Norman increased its cash balances by NOK 7 million to NOK 85 million in the first quarter 2003 and will continue its strong focus on profitability.

The market for Norman's products and services continues to grow and the company expects continued good profitability and a continuing positive cash flow in 2003.

Enclosed is a summary of the preliminary financial statements for the 1st quarter 2003.

For further information, please contact Svein Ramsay Goli, Chairman of the Board (mobile +47 907 56 757) or Henning Hansen, President & CEO, (office +47 67 10 97 17; mobile +47 908 81 192) / www.norman.com