|
|
| PRINT | | Is the Nightmare Finished? |
New York, February 2005 – A glance at the latest quarterly results and the development of the shares of those eLearning companies quoted on the NASDAQ manifests a situation between hope and fear. Saba and SumTotal Systems showed a positive tendency. Blackboard had good results, yet it still has to struggle with capricious shareholders. Centra’s yearly results were disappointing and additionally the company has not come up with a clear forecast for 2005. Skillsoft tumbled sharply.
Saba Software narrows loss
Saba Software scratched the break even point. The platform specialist aims to turn a profit by May 2005 at the latest. The latest quarterly results point clearly in this direction. For the second quarter (ending Nov 2004), the company posted a loss of only $682,000 compared to a $2.3 million minus a year ago. Revenue was $10.3 million, up 26 percent from $8.2 million in last year's second quarter. Saba anticipates third-quarter revenue in the range of $10.5 million to $11.5 million. For the year Saba expects revenues of $42 million to $45 million. This is indeed a pleasant increase compared to fiscal year 2004 ($34.5 million), but still far from the peak of the year 2002 ($54.6 million).
Saba’s stock price rose steadily starting in January, perhaps due to the announcement that Saba plans to introduce a fully integrated system to unify the management of core people processes, including performance management and talent management, as well as learning management. However by the beginning of February, shares started slipping again.
SumTotal Systems recovers from merger
Everybody is keeping a watchful eye on the development of SumTotal Systems, the child born of the wedding between Docent and Click2Learn. The numerous stockholders skeptical of the move have had their doubts justified: the revenues of $14 – 15 million in the first two quarters after the merger were very disappointing. From March to September 2004, the share value dropped 50%, and the trend held until January 2005 when the quotation made a side step with a slight upward tendency.
Continuing the good news, the results the platform provider announced at the beginning of February again seemed to please the investors. Revenue for the fourth quarter 2004 was $18.7 million, with a net loss of $1.9 million. For the full year 2004, SumTotal Systems reported revenue of $55.2 million with a net loss of $16 million. For the first quarter of 2005, SumTotal estimates it will achieve revenue between $16 million and $18 million. The net loss is estimated at between $1.9 million and $1 million.
Blackboard's roller coaster ride
Despite positive results, the stock newcomer Blackboard has had problems. In July the provider of special products for the academic area started remarkably at the stock. Since then, though, the quotation has been a yo-yo. Has it been hopelessly overestimated or will it emerge as a company with a potential of growth? Analysts as well as shareholder aren’t sure, but one thing is clear: investors disliked the results of fiscal year 2004.
Even though Blackboard was able to increase turnover by twenty percent to $111.4 million and turned a net loss of $1.4 million in 2003 into a net profit of $10 million - clearly exceeding its own estimations - shares nevertheless fell. For the year 2005 Blackboard has forecast sales from $132 to 134 million with a net profit of $20.5 to 21.5 million.
Centra's capricious revenues
For quite some time now, Centra has been struggling with turnover problems. The collaboration specialist has been recovering quite slowly from the very bad start in 2004. In the first quarter the turnover dropped from $11.9 to 8.6 million, and the license business lost more than a half. Indeed the turnover of the fourth quarter of 2004 was again in the range of eight figures for the first time, yet the yearly results aren’t flattering: only $38.1 million sales in total. To compare with former years: in 2003 the turnover was $43 million, a loss of 11 percent. Net loss for 2004 was $11.1 million. This compares with a net loss of $7.9 million in 2003.
Thanks to a reworked sales approach, reduced operating costs, and the newly introduced Enterprise Advantage Subscription (EAS) multi-year, term-based pricing model, according to president and CEO Paul R. Gudonis, Centra is in very good shape for 2005. "With a record level of contract backlog and a higher percentage of our revenues being generated on a recurring basis, we have improved our revenue visibility and enter 2005 with a more predictable revenue base." "For the first quarter of 2005, our plan is for revenues to be higher than revenues in the first quarter of 2004. Top priorities are to be profitable and a positive cash flow for the overall year. We plan to achieve revenue growth in the range of 10 to 20 percent over 2004."
Skillsoft - bringing down the costs
Skillsoft is still a problem child. In November the company had to revise its estimation of growth for the just-completed fiscal year (31 Jan 2005) downward, and the shares – which have dropped continually since May 2004 – fell again, this time by 23%. The tendency is still lower. Only the sector "informal learning" has prospered, showing remarkable growth rates. Skillsoft has now undertaken a strict cost-cutting program, and the company has started outsourcing the main part of the Content Development-Organization; it’s rumored the work is being done in India.
The whole area of "Business Skills" and two thirds of the IT Skills program development is also being farmed out. Only the project management and quality control remain in-house. The restructuring process concerns 130 employees in the USA and Ireland, and the German division actually fell victim to the cost reduction strategy: Skillsoft Deutschland GmbH was closed on 31 Jan 2005. The EMEA-Headquarters in London is now undertaking the sales activities.
|
| |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
Druckansicht
Artikel empfehlen
Kontakt zur Redaktion |
Copyright © CHECK.point eLearning/INFObases GmbH
Eine Verwertung der urheberrechtlich geschützten Beiträge, insbesondere durch Vervielfältigung, Verbreitung auch in elektronischer Form sowie Speicherung in Datenbanksystemen bzw. Inter- oder Intranets ist ohne vorherige Zustimmung entsprechend dem Urhebergesetz unzulässig und strafbar.
| Top |
___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________
|
|
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | Das Kundenvotum |  | | Die Anbieter des Jahres 2010 | | "Die Kunden haben das letzte Wort." Gemäß dieser Idee hatten CHECK.point eLearning und die Salespotential GmbH gemeinsam mit der wissenschaftlichen Unterstützung von studiumdigitale an der Goethe Universität Frankfurt und dem Medienpartner managerSeminare eine umfangreiche Online-Befragung deutschsprachiger eLearning-Kunden ins Leben gerufen. "Anbieter des Jahres 2010" dürfen sich nun die VIWIS GmbH in der Kategorie LMS, die datango AG im Bereich Autorentools, die inside-Unternehmensgruppe auf dem Sektor Standard-Content Business Skills und die Know How! AG in den zwei Kategorien Standard-Content IT sowie Individuelle Contentproduktion, nennen. Alle Detailergebnisse des Kundenvotums enthält der eLearningCHECK 2010. | | | | | Berufsziele erkunden |  | | Internetführerschein Berufsorientierung | | Der "Internet Führerschein Berufsorientierung" für Schüler wird in diesen Tagen über das Kultusministerium Hessen, das Kultusministerium Sachsen-Anhalt, das Bezirksamt Berlin Neukölln und die Initiative N-21 insgesamt in einer Auflage von 100.000 CDs an Schüler in diesen Bundesländern verteilt. Erfahren Sie mehr!
| | | | |
|
|
