System Software Associates Inc, the Chicago-based ERP software vendor, has turned in the poor fourth-quarter results it warned of last month, with a net loss of $9.8m on revenue that slid 41.2% year-over-year to $66.2m. The results mark the troubled company’s eighth consecutive loss in as many quarters. On a per- share basis, the loss amounted to $0.82, compared to a loss of $0.29 in the year-ago period. For the full year, net loss was $89.5m, down from a loss of $130m last year, on revenue that dropped 25% to $315.7m.
The results came in line with a warning in late November, the company’s third in a row. SSA says it continues to be negatively impacted by Y2K concerns. License revenue for the quarter sank 56.7% year-over-year to $23.4m, but was up 45% sequentially. Services continued to lag as a result of weak software sales in earlier quarters, dipping 26.7% to $42.8m. The company upped its cash reserves during the quarter from 18m as of July 31 to $24.6m by borrowing $26m under a credit facility.
SSA has had a bad year overall. Back in June, it announced that it would be cutting up to 440 jobs, or 20% of its total staff, in an effort to cut costs. In September, the company’s stock was demoted to the Nasdaq SmallCap Market after failing to meet the minimum $1 bid requirement. The shares closed Friday at $2.0625, down $0.0625 for the day, on volume of just 124,000 shares.
