Cognos reports second quarter results

Revenue for the second quarter was US $212.0 million, an increase of 14 per cent compared with revenue of US $185.2 million in the second quarter of last fiscal year. License revenue was US $78.6 million, an increase of 4 per cent from US $75.4 million for the corresponding period last fiscal year.

Net income in the quarter was US $28.7 million, an increase of 4 per cent compared with US $27.6 million in the second quarter of last fiscal year, resulting in diluted earnings per share of US $0.31 in the second quarter of fiscal year 2006, versus US $0.30 in the same period last fiscal year.

Revenue for the first six months of fiscal year 2006, ended August 31, 2005, was US $412.1 million, an increase of 15 per cent compared with revenue of $358.8 million for the first six months of last fiscal year. Net income for the first six months of this fiscal year was US $52.5 million or US $0.56 per share. This represents an increase of 10 per cent from net income of US $47.7 million or US $0.51 per share in the first six months of last fiscal year.

"Cognos delivered a solid second quarter," said Rob Ashe, president and chief executive officer of Cognos. "We performed well in the quarter leading up to the launch of Cognos 8 Business Intelligence, and we are now focused on capitalising on the opportunity that product represents. The significant marketing activity during the quarter and the strong customer reaction to Cognos 8 BI puts us in a very strong position going forward."

Cognos won nine contracts this year, each fetching more than a million dollars, up from seven contracts for the same period last year. The company registered a double-digit percentage revenue growth in all three major geographies - the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

Cognos previewed its Cognos 8 Business Intelligence for more than 2,000 customers, partners and analysts at Cognos Forum 2005, and drew over 5,000 participants for the product's worldwide launch. Cognos was also named the top business intelligence and corporate performance management vendor in Business 2.0 magazine's top 100 ranking of the world's best performing technology companies.

"Cognos 8 Business Intelligence is the most important product release in the history of Cognos and the BI industry. It brings together the full strength of our BI capabilities on a single, modern and proven services-oriented architecture. This product redefines the standard for business intelligence - today and for years to come. We are confident this product will be well received by our customers in the Middle East," said David Brierley, regional manager, Cognos Middle East, Turkey and Greece.

Revenues for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2006 are expected to be in the range of US $230 million to US $237 million.