Optimal Group Report Revenue of $33.9 million

Underlying earnings from continuing operations before income taxes for the fourth quarter were $4.2 million or $0.18 per diluted share compared to a loss of $1.9 million or $0.12 per share in the fourth quarter of 2003. Net earnings for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2004 were $0.5 million or $0.02 per share, which includes amortization of stock-based compensation of $1.9 million or $0.08 per diluted share. The net loss for the comparable year-earlier period was $2.9 million or $0.19 per share, which did not include any stock-based compensation expense. Effective January 1, 2003, Optimal adopted the fair value-based method to account for stock-based compensation. Excluding the expensing of non-cash, stock-based compensation, Optimal’s net earnings for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2004 would be $2.4 million or $0.10 per diluted share. Revenues from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 2004 were $99.4 million compared to $15.7 million in the year ended December 31, 2003. Underlying earnings from continuing operations before income taxes were $5.0 million or $0.24 per diluted share for the year ended December 31, 2004 compared to a loss of $6.6 million or $0.44 per share for fiscal 2003. Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2004 was $9.3 million or $0.46 per share, which includes amortization of stockbased compensation of $5.7 million or $0.28 per share. The net loss for the comparable year-earlier period was $6.2 million or $0.41 per share. Excluding the expensing of non-cash, stock-based compensation, Optimal’s net loss for the year ended December 31, 2004 would be $3.5 million or $0.17 per share. Underlying earnings from continuing operations before income taxes is a non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) financial measure that excludes amortization of intangibles, amortization of property and equipment, inventory writedowns, stock-based compensation, restructuring costs, foreign exchange, income taxes and discontinued operations. Optimal believes that underlying earnings from continuing operations before income taxes is useful to investors as a measure of Optimal’s earnings because it is an important measure of the Company’s growth and performance, and provides a meaningful reflection of underlying trends of its business. Optimals’ financial results include the following transactions, all of which are reflected in the current and comparative financial results: - On July 1, 2004, Optimal acquired National Processing Services LLC, a payments processing company; - On April 8, 2004, Optimal sold its former U-Scan® self-checkout business, currently reported as discontinued operations; - On April 6, 2004, Optimal acquired Terra Payments Inc, a payments processing company; - On February 27, 2004, Optimal acquired the repair depot and field services division of Systech Retail Systems; and - On September 30, 2003, Optimal acquired substantially all of the assets of RBA Inc, a repair depot and field services company. Balance Sheet Highlights Optimals balance sheet remains strong. At year-end, the Company had: - Cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and settlement assets net of customer reserves, security deposits and bank indebtedness of $104.0 million; - working capital, excluding cash and short-term investments held as reserves and cash held in escrow, of $65.1 million; and - shareholders equity of $176.7 million. For the first quarter of 2005, Optimal anticipates underlying earnings from continuing operations before income taxes to be approximately $4.5 million.