By Anna Prior
Citrix Systems Inc.'s (CTXS) fourth-quarter earnings rose 22% as
the company also said its Chief Executive Officer Mark B. Templeton
will be returning from a previously announced leave of absence, but
that he plans to retire within the next year.
Citrix said Templeton's retirement is subject to the naming of
his successor.
The company's board has formed a committee of independent
directors to lead a search for the next CEO, and David J. Henshall,
who has been serving as acting CEO during Mr. Templeton's absence,
has been promoted to chief operating officer, the company said.
Meanwhile, shares fell in recent after-hours trading as Citrix
provided an outlook for the first-quarter and recently started year
that was below Wall Street's expectations.
For the year, Citrix said it expects per-share adjusted earnings
of $2.85 to $2.95 on revenue growth of 8% to 10%. Analysts polled
by Thomson Reuters were looking for earnings of $3.35 a share and
revenue growth of about 11% to $3.25 billion.
For the first-quarter, the company forecast adjusted earnings of
57 cents to 60 cents a share on revenue of growth of 8% to 10%.
Analysts projected earnings of 69 cents a share and revenue growth
of about 11% to $746.5 million.
Citrix improves efficiency by allowing multiple systems to
operate on one computer. The company had posted quarterly
double-digit revenue gains for more than three years as it
benefited from increased demand for desktop virtualization, a
crucial step in cloud computing.
For the latest quarter, Citrix reported a profit of $138.6
million, or 74 cents a share, up from $114 million, or 60 cents a
share a year ago. Excluding compensation expenses and other items,
per-share earnings rose to $1.04 from 90 cents. Revenue rose 8.4%
to $802.4 million.
The company in October had forecast adjusted earnings of 95
cents to $1 a share and revenue of $800 million to $810 million,
below analysts' estimates at the time.
Revenue from product and licenses, or new product purchases,
edged up 0.5% to $269.9 million. Revenue from license updates,
which includes annuity revenue from subscriptions paid when new
licenses are purchased, rose 11%. Software-as-a-service revenue was
up 13%, while professional-services revenue rose 28%.
Gross margin narrowed to 83% from 84.1%. Operating expenses
climbed 5.8%.
The stock has fallen 16% in the last 12 months.
Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@wsj.com
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