SkillSoft sees 1Q revenue hike

SkillSoft PLC, a Nashua-based provider of e-learning content and technology products for business and IT professionals, reported a 3 percent increase in its first-quarter revenues.

The firm said revenue was $54.7 million for the first-quarter ending April 30, up from $53.3 million in the first quarter of last fiscal year.

Net income was $4.1 million, or 4 cents per share, an increase of nearly 64 percent from a net income of $2.5 million, or 2 cents per share, in the first fiscal quarter of 2006.

Restatement charges of $300,000 in both the fiscal 2007 and 2006 first quarters were related to expenses stemming from an ongoing investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into accounting irregularities in the 1999 through June 2002 filings of SkillSoft’s former parent company SmartForce PLC.

SkillSoft merged with SmartForce in September of 2002.

SkillSoft also released updated earnings estimates for the entire fiscal 2007. The company is now estimating a revenue range of $213.7 million to $218 million, up from the $212 million to $218 million range it estimated in March. — CINDY KIBBE