Ariba breaks even, but warns of slowing IT spend

"We're making progress," says CEO...

Ariba has broken even in its last quarter but warned it might not hit its June profit target.

In second quarter results released today, the company reported a pro-forma profit of $1.1m, or zero cents per share, on revenues of $57.2m, beating analysts' forecasts of a one cent per share loss.

In Q2 2001, the company was on a downhill slope, reporting a pro-forma loss of $48.3m, or 20 cents per share, on revenue of $54m.

Net loss on a GAAP (generally accepted accounting practice) basis for Q2 2002 was $154m, down from $1.8bn in the same quarter last year.

But Ariba CEO Bob Calderoni offered a cautious outlook for the third quarter, saying he expected revenue to remain flat and pro-forma profits to hover around the breakeven level.

In January, at the global launch of Ariba's Spend Management Enterprise range, Calderoni was touting a more positive forecast, predicting pro-forma profitability for Ariba by June.

But in a conference call today he said stagnant IT spending continued to make it difficult to forecast revenue growth.

He said Ariba was pleased with this quarter's performance: "Six months ago pro forma break even was a pipedream. Now we're making significant progress. We realise there's more to do, but I remain confident we can get the job done."