Actuate In The Red Despite 2Q Sales Growth

Reporting-software vendor Actuate Corp. (ACTU-Nasdaq) Thursday reported healthy sales growth of 33% for its second quarter, but one-time charges for acquisitions and restructuring put the company in the red. The company also indicated that third-quarter sales might be weaker than Wall Street expects.

For the quarter ended June 30, Actuate reported sales of $32.5 million, up 33% from $24.4 million in the same period last year. Income was $2.2 million, or 4 cents per share, before one-time charges, but that dropped to a loss of $1.1 million, or 2 cents a share, when charges for restructuring, idle facility, and goodwill and amortization costs were factored in. (Actuate acquired Tidestone Technologies Inc. and its Java-based spreadsheet software in May.) A year ago, Actuate reported net income of $624,000, or 1 cent per share.

"It looks like they pretty much met expectations," says Tom Ernst, a Thomas Weisel Partners analyst. But Ernst says the company has cautioned that Wall Street estimates of earnings of 4 cents per share in the third quarter might be too optimistic.