Ashton-Tate Has First Profit in 18 Months

Citing increasing sales of its flagship database management software program, Ashton-Tate Corp. on Wednesday reported third-quarter earnings of $1.1 million, its first quarterly profit in 18 months.

The results surprised Wall Street analysts, who had widely estimated losses of up to $5 million at the faltering Torrance-based software publisher.

Revenue for the quarter totaled $60.4 million, up 12% from the $53.9 million a year ago when the company lost $19.3 million. For the first nine months of the year, the company lost $12.5 million, compared to $27.6 million in the year-ago period. Sales so far this year totaled $165.5 million, down 18.5% from the $203.2 million recorded a year ago.

Ashton-Tate has been hard hit since releasing a flawed version of its market-leading dBase database management program in late 1988 and then recording as “sold” thousands of copies stockpiled on wholesalers’ shelves. That resulted in losses of more than $50 million over the last 15 months.

After working feverishly for months, the company released a corrected version of the program in late July, and executives have said sales are noticeably picking up.

“We are very pleased with the progress we’ve made,” said company President William Lyons. “The product has been favorably reviewed . . . and our customers are confirming that it is stable and reliable.”