Educational  software company Riverdeep generated profits after tax of $3.5 million (€3.88 million) and earnings of one US cent per share for the three months to end-March from a loss of almost $11 million for the corresponding three months of 2001. Revenue rose to $46.6 million from $14.8 million for third-quarter 2001 and $41.3 million for the second quarter of the current financial year. The company said it generated just under $6 million from operations.

For the first nine months to end-March, revenue increased to $117.4 million and the company made after-tax profits of just over $1 million from revenue of $31.2 million and a loss of $45.9 million for the first nine months of the previous year.

At the end of March, Riverdeep's accumulated deficit stood at $98.1 million, down from $99.1 million at the end of June 2001 (previous year-end) while the group had cash and cash-equivalent balances of $58.2 million, up from almost $54 million.

Chief executive Mr Barry O'Callaghan said its ability to generate positive cash flows from operations was "the best validation to date of our strategy in building a world-class electronic educational publishing company". As the market for electronic instructional materials continued to grow and evolve, he said he was confident of "a strong market" for Riverdeep products in the future.