SCO spends $4m to make $30k in Q1

Say what you will about the SCO Group. The company is a model of consistency.

During its first quarter, SCO turned in lower Unix revenue, fading SCOsource revenues and a statement reminding everyone that it's waiting for the IBM lawsuit to pay out. This ritual of disappointment occurs every three months with little variation on the major themes.

SCO's first quarter revenue dwindled to $7.3m, which compares to $8.9m posted in the same period last year. A flagging Unix business caused the slip, according to the company. The Utah crusader's net loss grew to $4.6m versus a loss of $3.0m last year.

Many of you will remember a time when SCO's CEO Darl McBride crisscrossed the country giving speeches on the company's rock solid case against IBM to anyone who would listen. Of late, McBride only appears in canned quotations dropped into SCO financial statements.

"Despite our decrease in revenue and our increase in net loss incurred during the first quarter, the UNIX business continued to generate positive cash flow," McBride said. "We are pleased with the recently announced general availability of our EdgeClick digital services and believe that with the $10 million in gross proceeds raised in our private placement in November, we can pursue our business operations and see our lawsuit with IBM through to its conclusion."

SCO still has $19.2m in cash on hand and another $1.8m in an escrow account for legal fees.

The SCOsource licensing program has proved as unattractive as ever. The company sold just $30,000 worth of IP insurance - down from $70,000 last year. Product revenue dropped to $6m from $7.3m and services revenue fell to $1.3m from $1.5m.

To get the $30,000 in SCOsource revenue, SCO spent $4m. Go figure. ®