Following a spree of acquisitions in the preceding 12 months, Rational Software Corp has announced inevitable and long predicted losses for its year ended March 31. Net losses for the year were $42.1m, down from prior year profits of $4.4m. Unsurprisingly, turnover increased by 39.8% to $145.4m as the inclusion of new subsidiaries contributed heavily to revenue figures. But Rational claims to have been profitable in both its final quarter and the year as a whole if the one-off costs of acquisitions are excluded. Rational took advantage of its high share price back in October 1996 to raise $150m of funds for a spending spree, with the most significant purchase on its list being the software testing tool company, SQA Inc. Since reaching the giddy heights of $40 plus, Rational’s stock has now dipped right down to a disappointing $11.
