US banking systems vendor S1 Corporation has reported a 14% decline in revenues and widening losses for the year-ending December 2003.
S1's revenue for 2003 was $252.6 million, a 14% decrease from $292.2 million reported the previous year. Net loss for the year rose to $36.7 million, against a net loss of $16.4 million in 2002. Software license sales and professional services revenues both declined year-on-year, while income from maintenance remained stable.
The vendor took heart from above guidance returns for the fourth quarter, with sequential revenue up seven per cent to $61.7 million and net income at $3.4 million compared to a loss of $4.4 million in the previous quarter. Both revenue and income were down on Q4 2002.
James Ellertson, S1 CEO says the return to profit in the fourth quarter marks a turning point in the company's business model, as more banks sign up to its new Enterprise applications, which look to integrate all customer-facing channels and applications through a single platform. More than 100 banks have so far committed to S1 Enterprise, with 50 in full production, he says.
The quarter's wins included the first contracts for S1's Enterprise branch and call centre products, which will become generally available on a worldwide basis with the release of Version 3.0 of the platform later this year.