BARRA reports 90 percent increase in net income.

BERKELEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 30, 1995--BARRA, Inc. (NASDAQ:BARZ) today reported record revenues, record net income and record earnings per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 1995.

The net income of $1,743,070 for the quarter represents a 90 percent increase from the same quarter a year ago. Earnings per share increased to 21 cents from 12 cents for the like period last year.

BARRA has also been named to the Forbes list of the 200 Best Small Companies in America.

"All three of our businesses made useful contributions during this last quarter," said Andrew Rudd, BARRA's chairman and chief executive officer. "Our core business continued its successful performance, and with the introduction of our new Windows-based equity product, the BARRA Aegis System, we look forward to further growth. POSIT was a standout for our Electronic Brokerage and Information effort, and Symphony Asset Management was successful at both attracting new funds and demonstrating superior asset returns."

Second quarter revenues were $14,652,171 and net income was $1,743,070, or 21 cents per share. This compares to revenues of $12,781,141 and net income of $916,047, or 12 cents per share, for the same quarter last year. Revenues for the first six months of the fiscal year were $28,666,276 and net income was $3,162,853. Primary earnings per share were 39 cents and fully diluted earnings per share were 38 cents. For the first six months of the previous fiscal year revenues were $24,852,859 and net income was $1,872,402, or 24 cents per share.

This quarter was the sixth consecutive quarter of record revenues. The overall increase in revenues of 15 percent over the same quarter a year ago coupled with an increase in operating expenses of only 5 percent, resulted in a significant increase in net income. Controls over costs have dampened increases across the board. Salaries are reviewed and adjusted as of July 1 each year, so much of the increase in expense for this quarter is the result of this year's salary adjustments.

Core subscription revenues were up 16 percent, primarily as a result of increases in non-U.S. business. This increase was net of the negative impact of the strengthening of the U.S. dollar -- especially versus the Yen. Partially offsetting this growth were decreases in core business time sharing and one-time fees. This quarter marked the introduction of the BARRA Aegis System, a suite of equity products for the U.S., U.K., and Japanese markets. These releases provide Windows-based risk management and new industry-leading optimization capabilities combined with security screening and flexible report writing functionality. The products have been well received and a significant effort went into converting existing clients to the new products during the quarter.

Royalties from the operation of the Portfolio System for Institutional Trading (POSIT) were up 25 percent over the same quarter a year ago and were the highest in the history of the system for one quarter. Increased POSIT volumes were the result of semiannual portfolio rebalancings and increased use of the system by major participants.

This was an especially important quarter for the company's asset management business. The majority of the revenues from BARRA's subadvisory contracts that predated Symphony's existence ended with the June 30, 1995 quarter when those contracts were not renewed. Since then Symphony has been able to replace those revenues with revenues from new business. As of mid-October, Symphony had approximately $350 million under direct management in a combination of private accounts, institutional, and mutual funds management arrangements. The full amounts of the potential revenues from these funds under management have not yet been earned because the relationships have just begun, and because the dates that trigger performance fees have not yet been reached.

BARRA, founded in 1975, provides innovative analytical models, software and services that enable its more than 850 clients worldwide to make superior investment and trading decisions. BARRA's software and services analyze equity, fixed income, currency and other financial markets and their models are the worldwide standard for communicating portfolio characteristics. Based in Berkeley, Calif., BARRA also has offices in New York, Montreal, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Yokohama, Hong Kong and Sydney. Information on BARRA is also available on-line at http://www.barra.com. -0-

                   BARRA Inc. and Subsidiaries
                 Consolidated Statements of Income
   For the Three Months and Six Months Ended Sept. 30, 1995 and 1994
                            (Unaudited)

                                              Fiscal Year-to-Date
                      Three Months Ended        Six Months Ended
                           Sept.30,                Sept. 30,
                      1995         1994        1995         1994

OPERATING REVENUES:
 Subscription and
  related fees     $12,735,457  $11,291,923 $25,218,869  $21,649,457
 Portfolio system
  for institutional
  trading            1,689,679    1,355,087   2,954,278    2,701,098
 Seminar fees          227,035      134,131     493,129      502,304
  Total operating
   revenues         14,652,171   12,781,141  28,666,276   24,852,859
OPERATING EXPENSES:
 Cost of services    1,149,018    1,126,230   2,281,658    2,143,440
 Seminar costs         135,607       90,281     400,744      383,299
 Compensation and
  benefits           7,317,787    6,832,494  14,362,599   12,936,483
 Rent expense          798,531      716,200   1,587,556    1,473,868
 Other operating
  expenses           2,438,378    2,465,878   4,613,177    4,741,862
  Total operating
   expenses         11,839,321   11,231,083  23,245,734   21,678,952
INTEREST INCOME AND
 OTHER                 537,395      214,012     970,005      390,890
INCOME BEFORE
 EQUITY IN NET
 INCOME AND LOSS
 OF INVESTEES,
 MINORITY INTEREST,
 AND INCOME TAXES    3,350,245    1,764,070   6,390,547    3,564,797
EQUITY IN NET
 INCOME AND LOSS
 OF INVESTEES         (208,918)    (115,650)   (598,761)    (221,295)
MINORITY INTEREST      (72,817)     (34,867)   (179,503)     (75,282)
INCOME BEFORE INCOME
 TAXES               3,068,510    1,613,553   5,612,283    3,268,220
INCOME TAXES        (1,325,440)    (697,506) (2,449,430)  (1,395,818)
NET INCOME          $1,743,070     $916,047  $3,162,853   $1,872,402
NET INCOME PER
 SHARE:
PRIMARY NET INCOME PER
 SHARE                  $0.21        $0.12        $0.39        $0.24
FULLY-DILUTED NET
 INCOME PER SHARE       $0.21        $0.12        $0.38        $0.24
WEIGHTED AVERAGE
 COMMON AND COMMON
 EQUIVALENT SHARES:
 PRIMARY            8,189,552    7,826,985    8,112,950    7,845,278
 FULLY-DILUTED      8,204,468    7,826,985    8,223,160    7,845,278

                    BARRA Inc. and Subsidiaries
                    Consolidated Balance Sheets
                As of Sept. 30, 1995 AND March 31, 1995

                                          Sept. 30,       March 31,
                                            1995            1995
                                         (Unaudited)

ASSETS

CURRENT ASSETS:
  Cash and cash equivalents             $17,481,856      $16,083,444
  Accounts receivable:
   Trade (less allowance for doubtful
    accounts of $122,224 and $228,258)    7,945,082        8,464,788
    Other                                   378,384          362,607
    Related parties                         281,595          360,347
  Short-term investments                  6,666,906        5,940,173
  Prepaid expenses                        1,248,936          839,847
  Prepaid corporate income taxes             24,824          102,686
                                         ----------       ----------
            Total current assets         34,027,583       32,153,892
NOTES RECEIVABLE - Related party                 --          416,320
NOTES RECEIVABLE - Other                  1,609,479               --
NON-MARKETABLE INVESTMENTS                7,386,221        7,311,638
FURNITURE AND EQUIPMENT:
  Computer equipment                      7,241,102        6,510,264
  Office equipment                          495,552          475,192
  Furniture and fixtures                  2,137,187        2,051,906
       Total furniture and equipment      9,873,841        9,037,362
  Less accumulated depreciation and
     amortization                        (5,618,680)      (4,983,493)
                                         -----------      -----------
                                          4,255,161        4,053,869

DEFERRED TAX ASSETS                         636,449          636,449

COMPUTER SOFTWARE (less accumulated
amortization of $298,145 and $210,256)      586,532          674,421

OTHER ASSETS                              1,489,495        2,062,922
                                          ----------      ----------
TOTAL                                   $49,990,920      $47,309,511

LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

CURRENT LIABILITIES:
 Accounts payable                      $   529,809    $  429,175
 Due to related party                      421,704       171,675
 Accrued expenses payable:
  Accrued compensation                   2,284,050     4,337,688
  Accrued corporate income taxes         1,049,162       745,939
  Other accrued expenses                 2,960,756     2,221,271
 Unearned revenues                      11,122,510     9,763,320
                                        ----------    ----------
  Total current liabilities             18,367,991    17,669,068

OTHER LONG TERM LIABILITIES
 Deferred tax liabilities                1,043,132     1,043,132
 Long term debt                            409,827       459,293
                                        ----------    ----------
   Total other long-term liabilities     1,452,959     1,502,425

MINORITY INTEREST IN EQUITY OF
 SUBSIDIARY                              1,040,522     1,010,308

SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY:
 Preferred stock, no par: 10,000,000
  shares authorized; none issued and
  outstanding
 Common stock, no par;
  40,000,000 shares authorized;
  7,662,800 and 7,727,100 shares
  issued and outstanding                 9,796,746    10,719,826
 Retained earnings                      19,150,421    16,010,069
 Foreign currency translation
  adjustment                               182,281       397,815
                                        ----------    ----------
  Total shareholders' equity            29,129,448    27,127,710
TOTAL                                  $49,990,920   $47,309,511

CONTACT: BARRA, Inc., Berkeley

James Kirsner or Robert Honeycutt, 510/548-5442