DOW JONES NEWSWIRES VeriSign Inc.'s (VRSN) second-quarter profit climbed 1.7% as the Internet domain-name company reported higher revenue and operating margins, although restructuring costs hurt results. Shares were up 1.1% to $28.30 in after-hours trading as revenue topped analysts' expectations. VeriSign has shed more than a dozen businesses and thinned its employee ranks in recent years, but the company's narrowed focus has made it more dependent on a mainstay Internet domain operation. The company in May agreed to sell its identity and authentication business to Symantec Corp. (SYMC) for $1.28 billion. The business had revenue of $410 million last year, or about 40% of VeriSign's total. In the latest quarter, revenue from discontinued operations, consisting of the authentication services business, was $102 million. VeriSign posted a profit of $36.4 million, or 19 cents a share, up from $35.8 million, or 18 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding items such as stock-based compensation, earnings rose to 24 cents from 16 cents as revenue increased 9.3% to $168.7 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of 24 cents on revenue of $167 million. Operating margin widened to 30% from 27.8%. VeriSign's domain-name business--which operates the registry for .com, .net and other domains--is based on a contract from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, overseen by the U.S. Commerce Department. The business remains the subject of a lawsuit originally filed in 2005, arguing the deal violates antitrust laws while artificially inflating prices. -By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2480; john.kell@dowjones.com
