UK e-business vendor Intelligent Environments has blamed widening year-end losses and plumetting revenues on the downturn in IT spending by financial institutions.
The group, which raised £2.2 million through an institutional placing in March, is reporting pre-tax losses of £7 million for the year to end December 2001, compared to a loss of £2.5 million for the corresponding period in 2000. The company reports a sharp fall-off in revenue to £3.1 million, from £8.8 million the previous year. The cash balance at the end of the year was £0.3 million (2000: £2.8 million).
Reporting the figures, Phillip Blundell iE chief executive and acting finance director comments: "The year has been a very difficult time for the company, with longer sales cycles and expected orders delayed."
The pre-tax loss for 2001 includes £1.4 million of restructuring costs, largely in relation to the closure of the company's US operation and a reduction in UK headcount.
Blundell says the company has narrowed its focus solely to financial institutions operating in the card and retail investment markets. In the card markets, iE's customers include Royal Bank of Scotland, First Data Europe and HFC Bank. Investment clients include Bank of New York Europe, Generali International and First State Investments.
The major change planned to the core technology in 2002 is a migration to Microsoft .NET. Says Blundell: "This change will broaden the appeal for our products whilst also making the products easier for partners to sell and implement."