Art Technology Group Beats Sharply Lowered Estimates

Updated from 4:48 PM

Art Technology Group(ARTG), which took dubious honors by issuing one of the worst profit warnings among struggling software companies this earnings season, beat sharply lowered expecations when it issued official results Thursday.

It also said its chief financial officer, Ann Brady, resigned.

The company said it lost $12.9 million, or 19 cents per share, on revenue of $42.8 million.

Analysts, after reducing their numbers, expected the company to lose of 21 cents per share on revenue of $41.2 million, according to Multex.com. Before the company warned on April second, Wall Street expected a profit of 9 cents per share on revenue of $69 million. Analysts had regarded it as having less exposure to the slowing economy than some. As it turned out, Art was more exposed than Prof. Sherman Klump in bikini briefs.

Prior to releasing its results, shares of Art rose 34 cents, or 4.5%, to $7.89. When it warned at the beginning of April, its shares fell more than 50% Its stock is off more than 60% since March 23.

The company said it has hired an executive search firm to find a new CFO to replace Brady, who left for the often-cited reason of wanting to spend more time with her family.

The company, which competes with struggling personalization software firm BroadVision(BVSN) and application server maker BEA Systems(BEAS), made painful cuts that resulted in layoffs and salary reductions after it warned. It said that an inability to get customers to close big deals toward the end of the quarter prevented it from hitting its goals.

That, unfortunately, has been too common a refrain among software makers.

The company said it would take a charge of $30 million to $40 million in its second quarter attributed to its cost-cutting measures. It said it expected "flat to moderate top-line growth and moderate bottom-line improvement," sequentially, in the second quarter. Analysts expect a loss of 13 cents per share on revenue of $43.1 million for the period.

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