Iona improves as losses fall and revenues rise


15 Oct 2003

In its third quarter results, Dublin software firm Iona Technologies has reported a slight increase in revenues on the previous three months. The company also revealed that its net losses are down substantially compared to the previous year, following a year of restructuring and staff cuts.

Iona reported that it has amassed third quarter revenues of US$17.4m, a slight increase on revenues of US$16.4m in the second quarter. Net losses were US$1.95m, down considerably from US$25.4m reported in the second quarter of this year and the US$26.25m reported in the third quarter last year.

Chief executive Chris Horn, who returned to the position earlier this year, appears to be focused on ensuring that Iona continues to prove sequential growth going forward. He said that the company expects revenue for the fourth quarter of this year to increase by up to 15pc on today’s figures.

Dan Demmer, chief financial officer at Iona said: “We expect typical patterns of seasonality in the next couple of quarters. Our objective is to position the company for sustainable performance based on our core strengths. This requires looking beyond sequential quarterly fluctuations.”

Iona CEO Chris Horn said that looking forward the company would focus on services and its new family of Artix products to drive revenue.

“Iona is providing repeatable solutions to an extensive and loyal customer base. We noted a growing interest in our service-oriented integration solutions among our customers and prospects and with our Artix products, Iona is correctly positioned and ready to capitalise on these trends in the long term,” Horn said.

The company undertook an Artix product family early adopter programme that included BellSouth, Sprint and Zurich Insurance. Iona is also continuing its tradition of driving industry standards, by co-authoring the web services Composite Application Framework specifications, which provide support for complex enterprise web services applications.

Iona’s results coincided with the appointment of a new chief operating officer to the company, Peter Zotto, a former CEO of Dublin e-learning firm WBT Systems. Previously, Zotto was CEO of Proteus Industries, a privately held company. He was also the founder of Claright, a consulting firm specialising in providing marketing expertise to small-to-mid-sized companies in rapidly changing markets. Zotto held a number of executive management positions at Digital Equipment Corporation, including workstations general manager and vice president, EMEA sales and marketing.

By John Kennedy