5/16/2000

A terminated merger and a new product that didn't achieve results as quickly as hoped landed Lifeline Systems on the Globe's 1999 list of bear-market companies.

Chief Executive Ronald Feinstein inside one of Lifeline Systems' monitoring room. (Globe Staff Photo / Bill Greene) The Bulls 1. NetOptix 2. Natural Microsystems Corp. 3. Interleaf Inc. 4. Cubist Pharmaceuticals 5. Seachange International [ See complete chart ] The Bears 1. J. Jill Group 2. Raytheon Co. 3. Mac-Gray Corp. 4. Lifeline Systems Inc. 5. RoweCom Inc. [ See complete chart ]

During the 12-month period through March 31 examined for The Globe 100, Lifeline's shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market fell 61.68 percent, to $9.13.

Since 1974, Lifeline has offered monitoring products and services used by the elderly to get emergency help. Shaped like pendants or wristwatches, miniature transmitters let a wearer talk to a Lifeline employee who can alert police or an ambulance.

Lifeline sells or leases its goods and services to hospitals that, in turn, rent them to consumers for about $30 a month.

In 1999, Lifeline launched CareSystem, which upgrades earlier technology. It allows Lifeline to offer reminder services, too, telling a consumer when it's time to take medication, for example.

When fully phased in, CareSystem will help Lifeline make the transition from a hardware company to more of a service provider. But CareSystem took longer to implement than planned.

Meanwhile, Lifeline said it had to call off a merger with Protection One Inc., a home-security company, because of issues Protection One had with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

On the up side, CareSystem is now up and running, and moving Lifeline from Cambridge to Framingham should yield big savings.

Revenues grew 9 percent to $70.4 million as Lifeline's subscriber base rose 21 percent. Profits fell from $5.99 million to $2.51 million, partly due to one-time charges related to Lifeline's repositioning itself as more of a service provider.

CHRIS REIDY