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Ariba beats analysts' Q4 estimates

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CIOL Bureau
New Update

PALO ALTO: E-business software maker Ariba Inc. on Wednesday said improved

revenues helped it beat Wall Street's fourth-quarter expectations.

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Mountain View, Calif.-based Ariba posted a loss of $1.1 million, or nil per

share, excluding non-operating charges, compared with a loss of $4.6 million, or

3 cents a share in the year-ago period, excluding non-operating charges.

Ariba's fourth-quarter net loss grew to $339.3 million or $1.50 per diluted

share, compared with a net loss of $9.9 million or 7 cents per diluted share

during the same quarter in 1999. The company's net losses included acquisition

costs and charges related to exercised stock options.

A consensus of analysts' forecasts predicted a fourth-quarter loss of 5 cents

per share, excluding items, according to First Call/Thomson Financial.

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Ariba shares fell about $6 in after hours trading. Prior to the announcement,

the stock had closed up 1/16 at $127-1/16.

Dain Rauscher Wessels Analyst Stephen Sigmond called the company's earning

report "fantastic" and said Ariba hit the per share break-even four

quarters earlier than analysts had expected. He speculated that so-called

whisper numbers may have raised some investors' expectations and contributed to

the sell-off.

"Welcome to the world of Internet stocks. This is how they trade. It's a

giant guessing game," Sigmond said.

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The company said fourth-quarter revenues hit record levels, growing 687

percent to $134.9 million from $17.1 million in the year-ago quarter as the

company added 114 customers. Those customers included Bear Stearns & Co.

Inc., Target Corp., and American International Group Inc.

"During the year we increased our customer base 500 per cent and

deployed more B2B customers than any competitor," Keith Krach, Ariba's

chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Ariba's fourth-quarter net loss grew to $339.3 million or $1.50 per diluted

share, compared with a net loss of $9.9 million or 7 cents per diluted share

during the same quarter in 1999. The company's net losses included acquisition

costs and charges related to exercised stock options.

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Fiscal 2000 net losses widened to $792.8 million or $4.10 per diluted share

from $29.3 million or 42 cents per diluted share during the previous year.

Ariba provides Internet platforms and network services that enable companies

to do business with each other.

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.

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