B2B leaders take a dive

Leading B2B vendors Ariba and Commerce One have both reported a sharp jump in second quarter losses following recent earnings warnings.

Ariba posted a loss, excluding charges, of $48.3m, or 20 cents a share. Loss for the comparable period last year was $11.5m or six cents a share. For the same quarter, ending 31 March, Commerce One posted a loss, excluding charges, of $25.5m, or 11 cents a share, compared to $14m, or nine cents a share, last year. Both companies announced an increase in revenue, with Ariba's revenue jumping 126 per cent to $90.7m. Commerce One posted revenue of $170.3m, an increase of 386 per cent on 2000. In a conference call this afternoon, Ariba CEO Keith Krach, said that while the recent decision to lay off over 600 staff brought the company back into line with its staffing levels of six months ago, it had been a 'tough but important' decision. He said: "It's the toughest part of being a CEO and we would have liked to have considered different options, but its something we needed to do." He said that break-even point had been reduced from $150m to between $105 and $110m as IT spending continued on a downward trend, but said that it was too early to forecast when that may be.