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Technology Stocks : IFMX - Investment Discussion -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Punko who wrote (10556)	4/30/1998 6:08:00 PM
From: bob zagorin	Respond to of 14631

Informix Has Unexpected 1st-Qtr Profit on Lower Costs (Update1) (Adds company comment; updates with details on earnings.) Menlo Park, California, April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Informix Corp. unexpectedly reported a first-quarter profit, its second consecutive quarterly profit, as the database software maker increased sales and continued to cut costs. The company said net income was $4.9 million, or 3 cents a diluted share, compared with a restated loss of $144.2 million, or 95 cents, in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose 12 percent to $167.2 million from a restated $149.2 million a year ago. Informix, which makes software to organize large libraries of information, is trying to sign new customers and boost sales after restating earnings for the last three years by $236 million. The company reported an unexpected profit last quarter, though it still faces formidable challenges amid a slowing database market and competition from rival Oracle Corp. ''The predictability of their revenue and earnings has been decreased by the slowdown in the market,'' said Brian Eisenbarth, an analyst at Collins & Co. who rates the stock ''hold.'' ''Last quarter wasn't enough to convince analysts to start increasing their expectations. You can't use one quarter as the basis for a turnaround.'' Analysts expected the company to lose 4 cents a share, the average estimate of analysts polled by IBES International Inc. ''We're very pleased we had revenue growth year over year. Our No. 1 challenge and objective is to grow the top line,'' said Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Finocchio, calling the company's results ''progress.'' Lower Expenses The company benefited from lower expenses, with total costs falling 48 percent to $158.0 million. Cost of software distribution decreased 66 percent to $9.8 million, while general and administrative expenses were cut by half to $13.5 million. Sales and marketing costs dropped to $63.9 million from $131.0 million. ''We're not going to keep cutting expenses,'' Finocchio said. ''We're going to have to ramp up head count, consulting, research and development. We need to spend more on marketing.'' Research and development costs rose to $36.6 million from $35.3 million. Informix purposely didn't touch that area because ''we're really building for the future,'' Finocchio said. The company will spend more on research and development, he said. Informix shares fell 11/64 to 9 57/64. The results were released after the close of U.S. trading. The shares rose in after-hours trading as high as 10 5/8.