SCO Group yesterday reported a net loss of $724,000 (£459,036) on revenue of $13.5m (£8.6m) for its financial quarter ending 31 January.

This compared with a net loss of $11m on revenue of $17.9m for the comparative quarter last year.

The Utah-based software house said that the figures, although in the red, represented the first time the company had ever generated positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA).

The company's EBITDA for the first quarter of fiscal 2003 was $361,000, compared to negative $9.2m in the comparable period a year ago.

"Even though a sluggish economy and lower IT spending continue to hamper revenue, we have made significant progress in becoming profitable," said Darl McBride, president and chief executive of SCO.

"We expect that revenue for our second quarter, ending 30 April 2003, will be in the range of $23m to $25m," he added. "These projections are based on anticipated revenue from our current operating platforms of $13m to $15m, and $10m from the SCOsource licensing initiative.

"While we anticipate significant revenue from SCOsource activities this quarter, we are currently unable to estimate the level of potential revenue from this initiative in future quarters."