Third-quarter results see Iona return to form

IONA TECHNOLOGIES continued its bounce back yesterday as the software company beat expectations with third-quarter revenues of $16.5 million (€13.4m).

The market looked kindly on the news and bumped the share price up more than 12% to $4.85 before retreating in late trading.

Net income for the three months to September was $209,000, which marked a substantial improvement from the $1.9m loss in the previous quarter and the $2m deficit in the same period last year.

Chief executive and co-founder Chris Horn said he was pleased with the results. Iona’s Corba product continued to perform as expected, while its next-generation Artix package signed new customers and became more popular with existing users.

“As a result, the developing and strengthening Artix pipeline and a steady Corba business give us confidence that Iona is well positioned to achieve long-term success,” said Dr Horn.

The company signalled confidence for the future with predictions that it would come close to repeating its break-even performance in the final quarter. Revenues were expected to be in the region of $17m to $19m, while costs would come in at approximately $17m to $18m.