11 September to blame says Micromuse

NEWS Network management software specialist, Micromuse reported poor earnings in its fourth quarter results and has warned the current quarter could be worse. The company cited the terrorist attack on 11 September for a reduction on profits, from $5m a year ago to $3m in the quarter ending 30 September. Micromuse's share price dipped over a dollar and a half to $11.70 in after hours trading on the news. Talking to news agencies, chairman and CEO, Greg Brown said: "We had deals pending with financial services organisations, airlines as well as some key New York-based customers. Not to be using 11 September as an excuse, but it's a reality." Brown said he expected revenues to dip by around two-and-a-half per cent in the next quarter. Micromuse's flagship network monitoring software saw a surge in popularity in the last six months, especially with ISPs and telcos. New customers included Demon Internet, Energis, Marconi and One2One.