Channel players ride out economic storm

Vendors file reasonable financials despite downturn

The channel continues to buck the economic trend, with the usual suspects reporting good financial results last week.

Vendor Software AG reported turnover of Eu159.1m (£97.8m) for its second quarter ended 30 June, up 56 per cent on last year. Operational profit before exceptional items was Eu31.7m, compared with Eu16.3m last year.

E-services software provider eGain reported fourth-quarter turnover of $14.1m (£9.9m), up 125 per cent on last year's $6.3m. The firm made a loss, before items, of $8.3m, compared with a loss of $13.3m for the previous quarter. Chief financial officer Harpreet Grewal said the company was "resilient, despite a challenging market".

StorageTek is also doing well, with turnover for its second quarter ended 29 June almost the same as the previous year at $512m.

However, distributor Ingram Micro did less well, posting a loss of $12m. Turnover for the quarter was $6bn, 18 per cent down on $7.3bn a year ago.

Greg Spierkel, president of Ingram Micro Europe, said the company was "doing everything it could" in a difficult market, and hoped to return to operating profitability in the third quarter.