Ariba Inc, a business-to-business network host with a booming stock price bested analysts’ earnings expectations by 5 cents a share with its fourth quarter results and reported earnings up 266% on last year at $17.1m.
The Sunnyvale, California-based firm announced losses of $4.6m or 12 cents a share compared to a net $2.2m loss, equivalent to 28 cents a share for the corresponding period last year. Full-year revenue for fiscal 1999 was $45.4m up 443% on last year as the firm broadened its Ariba.com buyer-supplier network and distribution partnerships. The firm also supplies so-called operating resource management software, which enables firms to track and manage supply purchases over the internet and corporate intranets.
Fourth quarter highlights included, the firm said, a hosted internet service targeted at enabling small and mid-sized firms to connect to the Ariba.com network more cheaply, which Hewlett Packard Co and SAirGroup have already signed up to deliver. It says it has also signed a deal with purchase card provider, US Bancorp, to roll out a fully automated payment system between buyers and sellers on the network. However although Ariba said the network has a reach of over 20,000 suppliers, analysts have said that the only customer to have signed up for the service so far is networking giant Cisco Systems Inc.
Ariba’s share price has gained more than 650% in the past three months as investors have bet on the firm’s ability to corner market share in the nascent procurement software business and draw incremental revenue from transactions on its e-commerce network. After yesterday’s announcement Ariba’s share price shot up 13.69% to close the day at $180.
