Best-of-breed supply chain management software vendors Manhattan Associates Inc. and JDA Software Group Inc. both reported this week that the ongoing recession hit them hard, delaying new software licensing deals and undercutting revenues and earnings in the first quarter of 2009. In response, Manhattan Associates moved aggressively to cut operating expenses, laying off 100 employees and reducing executive compensation.
Manhattan Associates, a provider of supply chain planning and execution applications, was the harder hit of the two companies in the quarter ended March 31, reporting a 31% drop in total revenue. For the quarter, Manhattan Associates reported $60.8 million in total revenue, compared with $88.3 million reported in the first quarter of 2008. The biggest factor in that drop was a 73% decline in software license revenue, which registered $4.9 million, compared with $18.3 million in the year-earlier period.
The company also saw a 15% drop in services revenue, to $50.8 million.
Manhattan Associates, however, did manage to report a small net profit of $262,000 for the quarter. That figure, however, was down more than 96% from the $7.4 million reported in the first quarter of last year.