By John Kell
CA Inc.'s (CA) fiscal second-quarter profit grew 8.1% as the
software maker cut expenses as the company continued to face
another quarter of weaker revenue.
Shares jumped 5.3% to $31.99 in after-hours trading Thursday as
results for the quarter easily topped expectations and CA gave a
rosier outlook for the full year.
Looking ahead, CA now sees an adjusted profit of $2.96 to $3.03
a share on revenue of $4.47 billion to $4.52 billion, above the
prior outlook for earnings of $2.90 to $3 a share and $4.39 billion
to $4.48 billion in revenue.
CA makes an array of software for mainframe computer systems and
newer hardware, an industry that has faced serious headwinds. CA,
which has admitted it needs to do a better job marketing, earlier
this year unveiled a plan to trim jobs and consolidate development
sites to focus on higher-priority products.
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, CA reported a profit of $240
million, or 53 cents a share, up from $222 million, or 48 cents a
share, a year earlier. Excluding stock-based compensation and other
items, adjusted profit grew to 86 cents a share from 59 cents.
Revenue slid 1% to $1.14 billion. The company now has reported
revenue declines for six consecutive quarters.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had projected a profit of
73 cents a share on revenue of $1.1 billion.
Subscription and maintenance revenue--which makes up a bulk of
the company's top line--decreased 1.9%. Professional services
revenue grew 2.1%, while software fees and other revenue climbed
4.3%.
Expenses decreased 4.2%.
Write to John Kell at john.kell@wsj.com
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