(Updates with more detail, comments from conference call.)
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
CA Inc.'s (CA) fiscal third-quarter profit fell 22% as the
business-software maker posted lower operating margins and slipping
bookings, though revenue growth topped Wall Street's
expectations.
The Islandia, N.Y.-based company raised its view for the year,
projecting adjusted earnings of $1.88 to $1.98 a share on a 4% to
5% increase in revenue. In October, CA projected a profit of $1.85
to $1.97 on a 3% to 5% increase in revenue.
CA also announced it had acquired privately held Torokina
Networks, a deal that allows the company to offer 'one-stop
shopping' for communications service providers to help them
optimize services and network availability. Chief Executive William
McCracken said during a conference call that two points of the
company's 5% year-over-year rise in revenue came from products it
had purchased.
"This demonstrates our ability to introduce new products,
acquired technologies and more importantly effectively integrate
them into our customer offerings," McCracken said,m according to a
transcript. "This is driving our growth today" and establishing a
base for growth in the future, he added.
Results for CA, a maker of software for mainframe and other
corporate computers, were resilient during the downturn as the
company cut costs to match revenue. The company's shares rose 8.8%
last year and have jumped nearly 50% since the summer of 2009.
In after-hours trading, CA shares were down 5.4% at $24.00.
For the quarter ended Dec. 31, CA reported earnings of $200
million, or 39 cents a share, down from $257 million, or 49 cents a
share, a year earlier. Excluding restructuring and other impacts,
earnings from continuing operations rose to 51 cents from 46 cents
as revenue improved 3.8% to $1.17 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 49 cents
on revenue of $1.16 billion.
Operating margin narrowed to 29% from 31.2%.
Revenue in North America increased 7.2%, while it fell 0.8%
internationally.
Bookings decreased 6.3%, and fell 5% on a constant-currency
basis, primarily due to a decrease in license and maintenance
renewal bookings.
On the subject of the Torokina acquisition, CA said Torokina,
founded in 2005, has offices in Australia and Singapore, with
affiliate offices in four cities outside those markets. Some of its
clients are large users of network technologies in the Asia-Pacific
region.
CA didn't disclose financial details about the transaction.
-By John Kell and Jenny Roth, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2480;
john.kell@dowjones.com
--Andrew Morse contributed to this story.