SCO slides in Q3

SCO Group Inc, or Caldera International Inc as it was known until Monday, has released its financial statement for the third quarter ended July 31 2002, and reported revenue down 18% on the same period last year.

The Lindon, Utah-based Unix and Linux operating system vendor reported a net loss of $4.5m on revenue of $15.4m for the third quarter, compared to a net loss of $18.8m on revenue of $18.9m in the same quarter last year. Revenue proved slightly better than the $14m to $15m previously estimated.

The reduced net loss indicates the steps that the company has gone to in order to reduce its expenses following its acquisition of Santa Cruz Operation Inc's Unix server and services businesses in May 2001. The company's net loss was also down from $6.6m in the second quarter, and would have been smaller if not for a $1.2m restructuring charge.

President and CEO Darl McBride said the company had reduced its worldwide operating costs by 6% in the third quarter and increased its gross margin from 65% to 74%. The company claims to have reduced its operating costs by over $8m since the acquisition closed.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter and full year ending October 31, SCO said it is expecting revenue between $14m and $16m for the fourth quarter and has upped its prediction for the full fiscal year to between $63m and $65m. The company had previously lowered expectations for the full year from between $68m and $72m to between $60m and $64m.

The company said it expects its gross margin to increase to 76% in the fourth quarter, and that it will further reduce its operating expenses by between 2% and 3% as a result of prior restructuring.

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