Ardent Software Reports Record Financial Results On Continued Strong Data Warehouse Revenue Growth; Pro Forma Earnings Increase 64%.

WESTBORO, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 18, 1999--

Ardent Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARDT), a leading global data management software company, today announced record financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 1999.

Total revenues for the third quarter increased 53% to $45.3 million from $29.7 million in the same quarter of 1998. Data warehouse revenues increased 309% to $19.2 million in the third quarter of 1999 as compared to $4.7 million in the third quarter of 1998. Pro forma diluted earnings per share, excluding amortization of purchased intangibles, increased 64% to $0.36 in the quarter, as compared to $0.22 in the third quarter of 1998. Pro forma operating income increased 91% to $10.8 million in the quarter, representing an operating margin of 24%, as compared to pro forma operating income of $5.7 million and a 19% operating margin in the third quarter of 1998.

For the nine months ended September 30, 1999, total revenues were $120.2 million, an increase of 42% from $84.7 million for the first nine months of 1998. Pro forma diluted earnings per share for the first nine months of 1999, excluding nonrecurring costs and amortization of purchased intangibles, increased 64% to $0.92, as compared to $0.56 for the same period in 1998. Pro forma operating income for the first nine months of 1999 increased 87% to $26.4 million, representing an operating margin of 22%, as compared to pro forma operating income of $14.1 million and a 17% operating margin in the first nine months of 1998.

"I am pleased to once again report another solid quarter," said Peter Gyenes, chairman, president and CEO of Ardent Software. "We continued to gain momentum in data warehousing, adding 114 new name accounts during the quarter, including AT&T Network Services, Carrier, Choice Hotels, HSBC Group, Huntington Bancshares, Lloyds TSB, Mannesman, Mercedes-Benz, National Steel, Nortel, Showtime, SmithKline Beecham, Subaru, Telstra and The Weather Channel."

"We are seeing the increasingly important role of the data warehouse in e-business," added Mr. Gyenes. "For example, furniture retailer Rooms To Go purchased DataStage to support its new dot-com operation, and companies such as BizRate.com and OrderTrust adopted it as part of their information infrastructures. On the partner front, On-Link Technologies will include DataStage in its business-to-business e-commerce offering."

"Ardent uniquely possesses the critical technologies that will allow enterprises to unlock their valuable information assets," concluded Mr. Gyenes. "Our vision is that the data warehouse will become the foundation of an infrastructure that is linked to the internet, provides access to structured and unstructured data, and serves as the platform for electronic business and analytical applications within the enterprise and beyond. We began to deliver on this vision with our recently announced initiative for the next generation of information management -- Enterprise Information Infrastructure, or EII. We believe our strategy further differentiates us as a strategic supplier of information infrastructure, and is being validated by strong customer demand for our newest product offering, DataStage XE, which integrates our proven data movement solution with data quality assurance capabilities and full lifecycle meta data management."

Key financial measurements remained strong with cash of $37.9 million, while accounts receivable days sales outstanding (DSO) improved to 62 days in the third quarter of 1999, compared to 66 days in the third quarter of 1998. International operations contributed 39% of total revenues.

Quarterly Highlights

--Announced DataStage Suite, which includes a complete data movement and integration solution with native access to data from mainframe, Unix, and Windows NT environments; data quality assurance capabilities; and full lifecycle meta data management; all complemented by industry-leading professional services.

--Signed a partnership agreement with Business Objects under which their consultants can now use Ardent's DataStage tool in data warehousing projects delivered to customers in the UK and throughout Europe.

--Announced support for the SAP Business Information Warehouse (BW) through a series of products and services enabling users to leverage both SAP and non-SAP data for decision processing. Ardent's DataStage Load PACK for SAP BW supports high performance loading of the Business Information Warehouse from heterogeneous sources. DataStage Extract PACK for SAP R/3 enables users to extract data directly from SAP R/3 systems natively and integrate it with data from other sources.

--Unveiled the Company's Enterprise Information Infrastructure (EII) initiative, designed to enable organizations to deploy a single infrastructure that harnesses both structured and unstructured data to support a wide variety of strategic solutions, including e-business, analytical applications and enterprise portals.

--Expanded the Company's global presence by establishing Ardent Iberia to support customers in Spain and Portugal, and also opened branch offices in the Netherlands and Sweden.

--Announced partnerships with leading enterprise portal vendors DataChannel and OpenText to integrate Ardent's DataStage Suite with their offerings.

--Announced the availability of Ardent's BI Blueprint(TM), business intelligence infrastructure for easily populating the PeopleSoft Enterprise Performance Management(TM) (EPM) solution.

About Ardent Software

Ardent Software is a leading global data management software company. Ardent develops and markets data integration software for data warehouse and analytical applications, and embedded databases and tools for developing and deploying packaged operational applications. With worldwide sales and service operations, and 1,000 resellers in more than 50 countries, Ardent is one of the top software companies in the world. More than 60,000 customers and 2.2 million users in virtually every aspect of business and government use applications powered by Ardent's products and technologies to solve their complex data management problems. Ardent is headquartered in Westboro, Massachusetts. The company's common stock trades on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol "ARDT." For more information, visit Ardent's web site at www.ardentsoftware.com.

Statements expressing the beliefs and expectations of management regarding future performance are forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, quarterly fluctuations in results and other risks. These risks are detailed from time to time in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998. Actual results may differ materially from management's expectations.

DataStage, Iterations, RedBack, System Builder, UniData, UniVerse and wIntegrate are registered trademarks of Ardent Software, Inc. Other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of the respective trademark holders. -0-

                Ardent Software, Inc. and Subsidiaries
            Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
                 (In thousands, except per share data)
                              (Unaudited)

                              Three Months Ended   Nine Months Ended
                              Sept. 30, Sept. 30, Sept. 30, Sept. 30,
                                 1999      1998      1999      1998
Revenue:
 Software                       $24,684  $17,127  $66,435    $49,379
 Services and other              20,605   12,607   53,738     35,302
  Total revenue                  45,289   29,734  120,173     84,681
Costs and expenses:
 Cost of software                 1,576    1,158    4,159      3,505
 Cost of services
  and other                       9,517    5,724   24,413     16,676
 Selling and marketing           15,001   10,516   42,295     29,729
 Product development              5,437    4,311   15,042     13,094
 General and
  administrative                  2,940    2,353    7,866      7,559
  Total costs
   and expenses                  34,471   24,062   93,775     70,563
Income from operations
 before non-recurring
 charges and
 amortization of
 purchased intangibles           10,818    5,672   26,398     14,118
Other income - net                  321       42      806        120
Income before income
 taxes, non-recurring
 charges and
 amortization of
 purchased intangibles           11,139    5,714   27,204     14,238
Provision for income taxes
 before non-recurring
 items and
 amortization of
 purchased intangibles            3,606    2,007    9,083      5,074
Net income before non-recurring
 charges and amortization
 of purchased intangibles        $7,533   $3,707  $18,121     $9,164
 Amortization of
  purchased intangibles           2,251      604    4,970      1,812
 Merger and
  restructuring costs              --       --      9,895     14,895
 Purchased in-process
  research and development         --       --      5,052       --
Total non-recurring items
 and amortization of purchased
 intangibles                      2,251      604   19,917     16,707
Benefit from income
 taxes on non-recurring
 items and
 amortization of
 purchased intangibles             (318)    (218)  (2,960)    (4,475)
Net income (loss)                $5,600   $3,321   $1,164    $(3,068)
Diluted net income (loss)
 per common share                 $0.27    $0.20    $0.06     $(0.21)
Shares used for net income
 (loss) computation              21,051   16,875   19,760     14,604
Diluted income per common
 share excluding non-recurring
 items                            $0.27    $0.20    $0.72      $0.49
Shares used for computation      21,051   16,875   19,760     16,387
Diluted income per common
 share, excluding non-recurring
 items and amortization
 of purchased intangibles         $0.36    $0.22    $0.92      $0.56
Shares used for computation      21,051   16,875   19,760     16,387

                Ardent Software, Inc. and Subsidiaries
                 Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
                            (in thousands)
                              (Unaudited)
                                                  Sept. 30,   Dec. 31,
                                                     1999       1998
ASSETS
Current assets:
 Cash and equivalents                              $37,904    $24,167
 Accounts receivable - net                          30,895     21,238
 Prepaid expenses and other current assets           6,764      5,062
 Asset held for sale                                 6,440       --
 Deferred income taxes                               1,655      1,634
Total current assets                                83,658     52,101
Property and equipment - net                         8,346      6,587
Long-term assets:
 Intangible assets - net                            57,599     14,633
 Deposits and other long-term assets                 6,050      5,085
 Deferred income taxes                               8,799      4,398
Total long-term assets                              72,448     24,116
Total assets                                      $164,452    $82,804
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities:
 Accounts payable                                   $6,686      5,476
 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities     28,232     17,390
 Accrued merger and restructuring costs              5,313      2,112
 Deferred revenue                                   21,409     14,036
Total current liabilities                           61,640     39,014
Stockholders' equity                               102,812     43,790
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity        $164,452    $82,804