Informix Q1 Profit Exceeds Analysts' Predictions

STOCKHOLM (04/20/2000) - Informix Corp. yesterday reported first fiscal 2000 quarter profit above Wall Street's expectations, on top of a 10.3 percent revenue increase.

For the quarter ended March 31, Informix reported net income, excluding US$50 million in one-time charges, of $27 million, or 9 cents per share, as compared to $7.9 million and 3 cents, respectively, for the corresponding quarter a year ago. Revenue rose to $251 million, the business software vendor said in a statement.

The per share earnings beat the 8 cents per share consensus estimate of five brokers polled by First Call/Thomson Financial.

The results were fuelled by 352 percent growth in sales of Web-based software products, combined with a 42 percent rise in sales of what the database and tools vendor calls business intelligence software, according to the statement.

Informix's results compare with those of rival Sybase Inc., which yesterday also exceeded analysts' predictions with a 129 percent rise in first-quarter net income (excluding one-off items). [See "Sybase Posts Sharply Higher Q1 Profit," April 19.]Informix said it saw revenue throughout the world increase over the first quarter of 1999, with growth particularly strong in Asia-Pacific and Europe, which posted revenue growth of 16 percent and 15 percent, respectively.

In North America, revenue increased by six percent, while Latin America saw an eight percent rise, Informix said.

Informix, in Menlo Park, California, can be reached at +1-650-926-6300, or via the Web at http://www.informix.com/.