Amdahl Corp’s first-quarter revenues grew by a respectable 24% to $392.9m, but the Sunnyvale, California company still posted a net loss of $11m, down from a loss of $38.5m a year ago. Amdahl says the increase in revenues reflects the expansion of its consulting and professional services business and the maturing of several hardware product lines introduced last year. During the quarter, Amdahl continued its Windows NT-fueled shift toward services by acquiring Boston’s Kelley & Co (CI No 3,143). No charges related to the aquisition are reflected in the loss for the quarter. Although the company claims to have shipped more mainframes than any first-quarter in its history, margins for this aspect of its business continue to be low and it insists that increased volumes will be a priority for the rest of the fiscal year. It is a priority that is ever diminishing, however, as services and software accounted for 71% of the first-quarter revenues, compared to only 47% at the end of 1995.
