A switch towards e-business is starting to pay off for Merant Plc, the London, UK and Mountain View, California-based company, which recorded an increase in revenue despite the rapid tailing off of Y2K work.
In the second quarter to October 31, it recorded net income of $4.2m, up from a loss of $42.3m in the same quarter last year. Revenue was up 5.7% at $92.1m. Mid-term income was 5.1m, up from a loss of $35m in first-half 1998, while revenue was down 1.4% at $179.7m. The second quarter last year included a one-time charge of $49.6m, relating to the merger of Micro Focus Group Plc and Intersolv Inc that created Merant.
Merant has moved rapidly, with the aid of acquisitions, to shed its former identity as a COBOL tools outfit, and now styles its activities as enterprise applications development and e-business. Y2K revenue was 8% of the total in the second quarter, compared with 17% a year earlier, and Merant said all its other areas showed growth. Evidence that the company is back on a growth track lifted the shares 10.9% to $31.
