Autonomy makes a profit

Its software can 'replace' search engines like Yahoo

UK software company Autonomy has turned in a profit for the first time.

It saw strong sales of its software, which it claims could replace the need for conventional search engines such as Yahoo, in the US.

Its US sales jumped 550% to $6.5m (£4.5m), helped in part by a deal with General Motors.

In the first quarter, the Cambridge-based company made $440,000 before tax, compared with a $885,000 loss the previous quarter.

Its revenues rose to $11.7m from $7.2m in the previous quarter and $3.4m a year earlier.

Autonomy in context

The Autonomy software can understand context in prose rather than just identify keywords, the company says.

This helps automate many processes which would otherwise need to be done manually.

Autonomy chief executive Mike Lynch has said that the problem with most computers is that "if you give them a page of prose, they understand about the same amount as your dog does.

"The beauty of the newer technologies is that they can read this page of prose and understand what the ideas that are present are."

Autonomy recently made a version of its business software, Kenjin, available for free to consumer users.

Mr Lynch attributed the strong results to a growing need for automation of back-office work as companies and services on the internet grow more sophisticated.

"A lot of the new economy has been run like a cottage industry, with people in the back room slogging away - the elves, we like to call them," he said.

"We've been running at break-even for a while," Mr Lynch said.

Asian Autonomy

With $130m to spend, Autonomy is now on the hunt for acquisitions, particularly in Asia.

Its Asia Pacific operations generated initial revenues in the first quarter.

The group, which floated on the Brussels-based technology market Easdaq in July 1998, added a US tech-rich Nasdaq listing earlier this month.

Shares in Autonomy were trading at $136 on Easdaq, up from Wednesday's close of $133.5.