Channel players ride out economic storm

Vendors resist current 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 2001, up 56 per cent on last year.

Operational profit before exceptional items was Eu31.7m, compared withEu16.3m last year.

E-services software provider eGain reported Q4 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 called the company "resilient, despite achallenging market."

StorageTek is also doing well, with turnover for its Q2 2001 ended 29 Junealmost the same as the previous year, at $512m.

Turnover for Q2 was $12.3m, compared with $651,000 for Q2 2000.

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

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 Q3.