Manugistics meets earnings estimates, sticks to 2002 forecasts

Updated 5:50 p.m. ET

Manugistics met analyst estimates in the fourth quarter and said it remains comfortable with Wall Street's expectations for the current quarter and fiscal year.

After market close, the vendor of software for supply-chain management reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $3.7 million, or 5 cents per share, excluding special charges. That was in line with the forecast produced by First Call's survey of 15 analysts.

"Despite all the market hysteria, we at Manugistics continue to see strong and robust sales...and we continue to execute according to plan," Manugistics CEO Greg Owens said during a conference call with analysts. "Supply-chain management is as recession-resilient as any (market) I know."

Supply-chain management software helps manufacturers plan and schedule production and related operations such as raw materials procurement and product delivery.

Shares of Manugistics traded at $27.19 in after-hours activity on the Island ECN. Manugistics slid 89 cents to $25.98 in Monday's regular trading ahead of the earnings report.

The company remains comfortable with analysts' first-quarter estimates, said Raghavan Rajaji, chief financial officer. First Call consensus currently predicts a Manugistics profit of 3 cents per share on first-quarter revenue of $86.4 million.

Fourth-quarter revenue more than doubled year-over-year to $89.3 million. First Call consensus predicted revenue of $81.3 million for Manugistics' fourth quarter ended Feb. 28.

Software license revenue increased 37 percent sequentially to $49 million, or 55 percent of total revenue. Services revenue generated 26 percent of overall revenue, followed by maintenance at 18 percent.

About 34 percent of Manugistics' revenue came from outside the United States, Owens said.

Days sales outstanding--which measures revenue yet to be formally collected, and is a source of concern for some Manugistics observers after it increased earlier in the fiscal year--fell to 82, from 93 in the third quarter. The company wants to keep reducing that figure, Rajaji said, adding that its long-range goal is to have days sales outstanding in the 80s.

For the full fiscal year, Manugistics earned $8 million, or 12 cents per share excluding special charges, on revenue of $268 million.

Rajaji predicted a fiscal 2002 profit of 26 to 27 cents per share, with revenue growth of slightly more than 50 percent. That is roughly in line with First Call's prediction of a full year profit of 26 cents per share on revenue of $397.3 million, which would translate into annual growth of about 52 percent.>