(Corrects first paragraph and first bullet point to say the
company could generate, not expects to generate, $100 million in
revenue in 2015. Corrects third paragraph to add dropped words
“Well, it could be next year” and “if”)
* CEO says company could generate $100 mln revenue in FY2015
* Says BlackBerry to be less than 3 pct of revenue in FY2014
* Plans to add up to 20 customers in FY2014
By Sruthi Ramakrishnan and Sriraj Kalluvila
July 15 (Reuters) – Supply chain management software maker
E2open Inc could generate $100 million in revenue for
the first time next fiscal year, after replacing its dependence
on BlackBerry Ltd and PC makers with a host of new
customers.
Chief Executive Mark Woodward said he expected E2open, which
went public a year ago, to boost its sales in the 12 months to
February 2015 after adding up to 20 new enterprise customers in
the current fiscal year.
Asked whether the company would hit the $100-million revenue
mark in the next fiscal year, Woodward said: “Well, it could be
next year. If we do $80 million (in revenue) this year and grow
30 percent next year, that obviously gets us there.”
E2open, which makes cloud-based software designed to assist
companies in managing their supply chains, has more than doubled
its annual revenue in the five years since Woodward took charge.
Revenue in the fiscal year to Feb. 28, 2013, was $75 million.
The company’s shares have risen about 35 percent since they
began trading on the Nasdaq on July 26 last year.
Three of the six analysts covering E2open have a “strong
buy” rating on the stock. The other three rate it “buy”,
according to Thomson Reuters data. The company has a market
capitalization of $460 million.
With a customer base that includes Coca-Cola Co,
Unilever Plc, IBM and Cisco Systems Inc
, E2open has been diversifying to cut its dependence on
any one large customer.
Last year, that customer was Canadian smartphone maker
BlackBerry.
Woodward said he expected BlackBerry’s contribution to
E2open’s revenue to fall to less than 3 percent in the current
fiscal year from nearly 15 percent last year.
BlackBerry, which pioneered on-the-go email with its
handsets and messaging systems, has slipped into tough times as
it struggles to keep pace with nimbler rivals.
Woodward said BlackBerry’s quarterly shipments of about 7
million units were between a quarter and a third of the volume
contracted when it became a customer of E2open four years ago.
“Their usage of our systems, just because they are selling
less handsets, has come down dramatically,” said Woodward.
E2open has, on average, signed up 17 enterprise customers in
each of the last two years. In total, it has 76 enterprise
customers – those which buy E2open’s software as well as pay for
access to its network of suppliers and trading partners.
Computer maker Dell Inc brought in 22.5 percent of
E2open’s revenue in fiscal 2011. Now, it accounts for less than
5 percent – even though its contribution in dollar terms has
risen, Woodward said.
“The original deal that we signed with Dell was for $3.2
million for three years,” he said. “The last bill we signed with
Dell was for $3.2 million per year.”
British mobile telephone company Vodafone Group Plc
is the largest customer for Foster City,
California-based E2open, having contributed 12.1 percent of the
company’s revenue last fiscal year.
Another customer, Seagate Technology LLC, held a 9
percent stake in E2open as of December last year.
(Editing by Robin Paxton)
