NEWS IN BRIEF
For the record 19 July
19-07-2007
by Ciara O'Brien
Colt records another profitable quarter | 3V launches mobile top-up service
There was a rash of financial results on Thursday, with Citrix, Colt and Iona all releasing quarterly figures. Citrix announced year-on-year quarterly revenue growth of 21 percent, and product licence growth of 16 percent in the second quarter of 2007. Revenue for the quarter reached USD334 million, a 21 percent improvement on USD275 million a year earlier. Revenue from licence updates grew 18 percent, while online services accounted for USD52 million of revenue -- a 47 percent rise. Technical services revenue, which includes consulting, education and technical support, rose 22 percent.
Meanwhile, Colt registered its fourth consecutive quarter in profit. Although revenue at the telecoms group slipped 8.8 percent to USD410 million, profit before taxation did a U-turn from a EUR9 million loss a year earlier to a profit of EUR8.9 million. Meanwhile, data revenue increased by 11.1 percent to EUR206.9 million, while deferred data revenues increased by EUR12.4 million to EUR174.8 million. Colt attributed the fall in overall revenue to a drop in low-margin Carrier Voice and Carrier Pre-Select voice revenues.
Finally, Iona Technologies revealed its quarterly figures, indicating that revenue grew 12 percent compared with the previous year. The service-oriented architecture (SOA) infrastructure firm totalled revenue of USD19.8 million, a 12 percent increase year-on-year. However, the firm reported a net loss of USD1.2 million, which included a share-based compensation expense and other expenses totalling USD1.6 million. Revenue from its Artix product suite increased 53 percent year-over-year, and the firm successfully integrated new acquisitions C24 and LogicBlaze to its portfolio.
Visa voucher firm 3V has launched a new mobile top-up service for O2, Meteor and Three Ireland prepay subscribers. Customers can use 3V vouchers to buy top-up PINS on the 3V website. The PIN is sent by SMS to the customers' mobile phone and by e-mail to a designated address, which can then be inputted into the phone to top up in the usual manner. This is the first time that online top-up facilities have been made available to Three and Meteor customers, 3V said, and, like its core visa voucher scheme, it does not require a credit card. The service also adds a EUR5 value top-up to the line-up, and Vodafone top-ups are due to be added the 3V site later this year.
Are you an e-mailaholic? More than 50 percent of UK business users say they are. According to new research by Mesmo Consultancy, more than half of business e-mail users are unable to stay away from their e-mail, even if they aren't in the office. The study found that more than half of the 415 respondents check e-mails when out of the office, with 12 percent checking more than five times a day. However, there is little sympathy for the addicted, with 67 percent admitting their attachment to e-mail is self-inflicted. Only 20 percent log in because their office expects them to.
Dell Ireland has strengthened its team, with the addition of four Consulting Practice Lead Architects. The four-strong team -- Greg Moore, Bernard Roche, Kieran Fitzgerald and Nigel O'Leary -- will look at four areas: Enterprise Storage Solutions, Virtualisation and Consolidation, Messaging and Collaboration Solutions for Microsoft Technologies, and Systems Management and Deployment Solutions.
Building your list: Denise Cox says that in order to build a subscription list you need to be proactive about securing subscriber attention.
