MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. Oct. 18, 2000 In the B2B world, where mega-losses are the norm and profit is a four-letter word, just breaking even is a cause for celebration.
B2B e-commerce platform über-provider Ariba announced Wednesday that it had come within $1.1 million of finishing in the black for the quarter ending Sept. 30. This net loss for the quarter, which excluded non-operating charges, worked out to a loss of $0.00 per share, which beat the First Call consensus estimate of a loss of $0.05 per share.
Based on the $0.00 per share result, Ariba staked claim to the title of the first Internet B2B to report a break-even quarter. Revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2000 were the largest quarter in Ariba's history at $134.9 million, up 67 percent from the previous quarter and up 687 percent from the same period last year. During the corresponding quarter in fiscal 1999, the net loss was $4.6 million or a loss of $0.03 per share, excluding non-operating charges.
Results for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 also marked a record. Fiscal year 2000 revenues were $279.0 million, up 515 percent versus $45.4 million in the same period last year. Net loss for the fiscal year excluding non-operating charges was $29.5 million or a loss of $0.15 per share.
Ariba added 114 customers to its portfolio in the past quarter, including such companies as Allied Worldwide, Pfizer, Target Corp., First Data Corporation, Hallmark, Honeywell, ING Group, Kmart and NEC. During the fiscal year, Ariba's customer base increased to 435.
