i2 Posts Operating Loss, Revenues Drop

On a pro forma basis, which excludes a $61 million restructuring charge, amortization of goodwill and other items, i2 recorded a loss of $34.73 million, or 8 cents a share, compared with a profit of $44 million, or 9 cents a share, in the fourth quarter of 2000.

Revenues fell to $194 million from $378 million.

Analysts, on average, were expecting i2 to post a loss of 10 cents a share, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. The analysts expected i2 to book revenues of $195.18 million.

"We believe business conditions are beginning to improve and that the company is on track to return to operating profitability in the second half of 2002," i2's Chief Executive Greg Brady said in a statement.

The company posted a net loss of $590 million, or $1.40 a share, compared with a loss of $727 million, or $1.80 a share, in the year-ago period. The loss includes a $61 million charge to cover 1,000 job cuts and office closures announced in the previous quarter, i2 said.

The company said its software license sales, a barometer of a software company's core success, tumbled to $73 million in the fourth quarter from $244 million in the previous year.

i2 closed the regular Nasdaq trading session up 11.46 percent, or 83 cents at $8. The company's shares have lost almost 90 percent of their value over the last 12 months, significantly underperforming its peers in the Standard and Poor's Computer Software index.

Last quarter, i2 posted a net loss of $5.53 billion, after taking a massive write off on an acquisition, and said it would cut 1,000 jobs, or 20 percent of its work force.

The company--which already cut 20 percent of its work force in 2001--cited the economic slump and slower customer spending in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.

During the fourth quarter, i2 reduced its operating expenses by 12 percent from the prior quarter, Bill Beecher, i2's Chief Financial Officer said in a statement.

In total, the company's expenses are down almost 30 percent, or over $100 million per quarter, since the first quarter of 2001, Beecher added.

"We have identified additional opportunities that should remove another 10 percent from quarterly operating expenses over the next quarter or two," Beecher said.

He said a significant portion of the cost reductions would come from i2's plan, announced last quarter, to offer a percentage of its development staff an opportunity to relocate to India.

"This should ease our intended return to profitability and," Beecher added.

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