Briefs

E.piphany has reported a net loss for the third quarter of $15
million, or 22 cents a share. The unadjusted loss for the CRM
software maker is $1.98 billion for the period that ended Sept. 30.

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct 22 (Reuters) - Marketing software maker
E.piphany Inc. on Monday posted a third-quarter
net loss larger than its cumulative losses as a public company, but
still managed to beat expectations by keeping a focus on cost control.

The San Mateo, California company had a net loss of $1.98 billion, or
$28.68 per share, compared with a net loss of $277.27 million, or $4.35, a
year earlier. Results from the recently completed third quarter included a
$32.4 million restructuring charge and a one-time non-cash charge of about
$1.9 billion as the company wrote down the value of stock-based
acquisitions over the last two years.

Excluding those charges, E.piphany's operating loss doubled from a
year ago, to $14.99 million, or 22 cents per share. Nevertheless, it
beat analysts' consensus forecast for a per-share loss of 24 cents,
according to Thomson Financial/First Call.

Year-to-date, the stock has lost about 90 percent of its value. The
company, which has never been profitable, has posted a cumulative net
loss of $1.39 billion since 1998, the year before its IPO.

COSTS AND REVENUE DOWN

``In challenging times like these, it is imperative that we focus on
revenue as well as internal costs. Our improvement in service margins
and low cash burn are evidence of our successful execution,'' Roger
Siboni, E.piphany's president and chief executive officer, said in a
statement.

The company used around $12 million in cash during the quarter and had
about $338 million remaining at Sept. 30.

``They did a better job of controlling costs than we expected,''
Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Brent Thill said, referring to the
company's cash burn, which was forecast to be about $3.5 million
higher than the final result.

Third-quarter license revenues -- a key measure of software vendors'
performance -- fell to $16.2 million from $21.38 million a year ago
amid lackluster corporate technology spending.

Total revenue declined to $28.51 million from $39.14 million, beating
analysts' consensus estimate for revenue of $27.25 million.

E.piphany ended the quarter with about 730 employees and company
executives told analysts that its head count could fall below 700 by
the end of the current quarter ended Dec. 31.

See full story at
See http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/011022/n22166404_3.html
and www.epiphany.com