On July 17th American Management Systems Inc., a provider of IT consulting and business services, reported 2nd quarter 2003 revenue of $232 million which was down 5% from the prior year's 2nd quarter when taking into consideration that the company sold part of it's business in late 2002. Net loss was $46.6 million. During the quarter AMSY took a one-time pretax charge of $45.5 million associated with the settlement of litigation ending two years of legal disputes with the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. There was also a $24.8 million pre-tax restructuring charge primarily related to severance costs and a $9.6 million intangible asset charge. Excluding these pre-tax charges earnings would have been $3 million or 7 cents per share.
     The company has taken aggressive steps to align costs with revenue levels. American Management Systems has a long history of profitability and trades at a discount to it's peers. The stock also has a history of higher valuations in relation to price-to-book and price-to-sales ratios. In 2002 35% of revenue was derived from federal government agencies and 28% was derived from state and local governments. With a current market cap of $551 million the stock trades at .5x sales. At the end of the 2nd quarter AMSY had $101 million in cash or $2.40 per share and a book value of $6 per share. The company carries no debt. In March of 2003 the company increased it's buyback authorization to a total of 4.2 million shares or 10% of shares outstanding.  Earnings are scheduled to be released before the open on October 23rd.