Unisys struggles against a soft federal market

Sluggish government puts damper on company's services business.

Unisys Corp. felt the effects of a weak federal marketplace, as it took a net loss of $11.6 million in the second quarter of 2011 compared to 2010, the company said on July 25.

Revenue in the quarter declined 10 percent to $937 million compared with $1.04 billion in the same quarter in 2010, according the company’s financial report.

Services revenue for the last three months declined 6 percent compared to 2010, primarily reflecting a $50 million decline in the company’s business with the government.

“Our second-quarter results were impacted by continued softness in the U.S. federal marketplace and lower sales of ClearPath systems,” said Ed Coleman, Unisys’ chairman and CEO.

The decline in sales of its ClearPath mainframe in the quarter followed growth last quarter and in 2010. Also, Unisys’ technology revenue declined 35 percent from the second quarter of 2010. Coleman said the company prefers to look at the ClearPath sales annually because of the fluctuations in quarterly sales.

Unisys, of Blue Bell, Pa., ranks No. 40 on Washington Technology’s 2011 Top 100 list of the largest federal government contractors.