J.D. Edwards Shows IT Organizations Are Spending

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software vendor J.D. Edwards & Co. Thursday reported net income excluding charges of $7.6 million, or 6 cents per share, a sharp increase from $2.6 million or 3 cents per share on year ago.? Analysts had been expecting earnings of 4 cents per share; the company's stock shot up 13 percent, to $11.83 in early morning trading. Net income when charges were factored in was $3.5 million or 3 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $7.5 million or 7 cents per share one year ago. Revenue was roughly flat, at $223.6 million vs. $221.9 million one year ago. One of the most positive indicators in the report: License fees grew 23 percent sequentially, to $54.1 million, supplying evidence that IT

organizations are still spending on projects deemed critical to their companies' business strategies.