ARI reports widening loss

ARI Network Services (ARIS), a provider of Internet-enabled electronic commerce services, today reported a widening first-quarter loss due to higher sales and marketing expenses.

ARI posted a loss of $1 million for the quarter ending October 31, compared to a loss of $904,000 a year ago. The company also posted a $1 million net loss in previous fourth quarter for fiscal 1996.

Meanwhile, its revenues rose 48 percent to $1.68 million in the first quarter, compared with the same time last year.

"We have now strung together three straight quarters of year-over-year revenue growth. I am very optimistic about our prospects for continued growth, especially given the recent arrival of our new vice president of sales," said Brian Dearing, ARI's president and chief executive officer, in a statement.

The company attributed its revenue increase to strong sales in its Meppel software package, which facilitates electronic data interchange (EDI), a process of sending forms from one computer to another without human assistance, and its ARISE product that is an automation platform used in sales.

Meppel, which was recently launched, is designed to handle EDI transactions faster and less expensively, and does not require a company's employees to learn the technology for ordering products or moving them through the distribution channel.