Santa Ana’s Starbase Cuts Earnings Outlook

Starbase Corp., which develops software for corporate information systems, cut its outlook for fiscal 2002, citing the weak economy and delayed purchases by customers.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2002, the Santa Ana company expects to post a net loss, excluding special items, of from $6.5 million to $7 million. It says it will return to profitability in the third quarter, one quarter later than previously expected.

Wall Street analysts had expected the company to post a first-quarter loss of 2 cents a share, according to a survey by First Call/Thomson Financial.

First-quarter revenues will be in the range of $12 million to $12.1 million, compared with $7 million a year ago. Starbase it also is cutting its revenue projections for fiscal 2002 to between $62.4 million and $66.6 million.

The stock closed at $2.02, off 3 cents a share, in Nasdaq trading.