Novell on Tuesday reported second-quarter results that came in just above diminished expectations as the business management software company struggled with sales force problems.
Novell also said former Lucent Corp. executive Nicholas Tiliacos, who joined the company May 10 as senior vice president, worldwide sales, had resigned for personal reasons. The company also said it plans to restructure into four business units to more closely follow product and customer lines.
Provo, Utah-based Novell said its net income fell to $31 million, or 9 cents a share on a diluted basis, from $38.7 million, or 11 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding a one-time $35 million royalty from Caldera Inc., which contributed 7 cents a share to earnings, Novell's earnings were 2 cents a share. Wall Street analysts had expected the company to post earnings of 1 cent a share.
Revenue for the quarter, ended April 30, fell to $302 million from $316 million.
On May 2, Novell warned that second-quarter profits would be much lower than Wall Street expectations due to a stumbling sales force, as well as stepped-up competition from Microsoft with its recent release of Windows 2000 and the surging popularity of the Linux operating system.
At the time, Novell said it expected to report revenue of just over $300 million and earnings of about 8 cents a share, including the $35 million royalty payment from Caldera, most of which related to an antitrust settlement between Caldera and Microsoft.
That warning sent Novell stock plunging nearly 40 percent the next day to about 10. Novell stock rose 13/16 on Tuesday to close at 9-3/4. Results were released after the close of regular U.S. trading.
Linux boasts big revenue growth: Linux Systems, which develops software and products for the Linux operating system, Tuesday reported a third-quarter loss and said its revenues grew more than eight-fold.
The Sunnyvale, California company reported a net loss of $20.6 million, or 58 cents per share, compared with a loss of $3.4 million, or 58 cents per share, in the year-ago period, when it had far fewer shares outstanding.
Excluding non-cash items, the company had an operating loss of 13 cents per share.
The consensus among analysts was for an operating loss of 23 cents per share, according to First Call/Thomson Financial.
Revenue for the most recently ended three months was $34.6 million, up from $4.3 million in the same quarter last year.
During the quarter, the company successfully completed two acquisitions -- TruSolutions and NetAttach –- and its pending buyout of Andover.Net is expected to be completed by mid June.
Company officials attributed the strong quarter to an increase in shipments of server products, which rose more than nine times the market growth rate.
"Without a doubt this was a stellar quarter," said VA Linux CEO Larry Augustin in a prepared statement. "Demand for Internet infrastructure solutions based on Linux and open-source software is expanding and continues to drive our growth."
Shares of VA Linux (LNUX) closed down 5-3/4 to 38-1/2. The company announced earnings after the close of market.
Intuit sees sales rise: Intuit, maker of personal finance and tax software, Tuesday posted better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results as sales rose 26 percent.
Net income for the quarter ended April 30 rose to $297.1 million, or $1.39 per share, and included a pre-tax gain of $422.2 million from the sale of securities, as well as significantly higher interest income.
That was up compared with net income of $75.4 million, or 37 cents per share, for the same quarter last year. That period also included a pre-tax gain of $58.6 million from the sale of marketable securities.
Excluding these items, Mountain View, California-based Intuit posted a profit of $76.3 million, or 36 cents per share, up from $50.0 million, or 25 cents per share, for the year-ago quarter.
Analysts forecast earnings of 33 cents a share, according to First Call/Thomson Financial.
Revenue for the quarter was $329.1 million, up from $261.5 million for the corresponding period a year ago.
In a prepared statement Intuit president and CEO said: "We beat Microsoft, won decisively on the Web, and grew our profits."
Shares of Intuit (INTU) closed down 1-1/14 to 27-1/16. The company released results after the close of market.
