Licensing Revenues Boosts Business ObjectsLicensing Revenues Boosts Business Objects

Business Objects finished 2006 with a solid performance, reporting Tuesday that revenues were up 16% to $1.25 billion for the year ended Dec.31 and up 22% to $371 million for the quarter.

The business intelligence software vendor's net income was up just 1.7% to $35.5 million for the quarter and dropped 18.6% for the year to $75.4 million; the company blamed the decline on stock-based compensation expenses.

New business wins for Business Objects in the fourth quarter included Air France, Audi AG, Dell, Fannie Mae, and Pacific Life Insurance. In November the company announced a strategic alliance with IBM to court new business customers, and also that month acquired Nsite Software, a company with a technology platform that Business Objects plans to use to develop software-as-a-service offerings.

"The fourth quarter was terrific and 2006 proved to be a very good year. Importantly, we performed well in all geographies," said John Schwarz, chief executive officer of Business Objects, in a statement.

The company says license revenues for enterprise performance management software, including planning, budgeting, profit management and dashboard applications, were $30 million for the fourth quarter, up 91 percent, and $78 million for the year, up 92 percent. Business Objects had less success with its core business intelligence software, including reporting, query and analysis applications: revenue was $127 million for the quarter and $428 million for the year, both down 4 percent. The company said while it had strong sales of Business Objects XI, the result was offset by declining sales of older product versions.