DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
BMC Software Inc.'s (BMC) fiscal first-quarter profit surged on
a prior-year charge as the maker of business software reported
higher revenue but lower bookings.
Still, the company's results Tuesday easily topped Wall Street's
expectations, leading BMC to raise its earnings target for the
fiscal year by 10 cents to $2.47 to $2.57 a share. It still sees
revenue growth in the low-single digits.
Shares recently fell by a fraction of a percentage point to
$34.30 in after-hours trading from the Tuesday close of $34.31. The
stock is up by nearly 30% this year.
The company has benefited from a trend toward virtualization,
which allows one computer to do the job of many. BMC Software has
also been taking market share in the information technology
management software space, according to Chief Executive Bob
Beauchamp in June.
Since June, two ratings agencies have improved their outlook on
BMC's ratings to positive from stable, citing stronger earnings,
the successful integration of the BladeLogic acquisition and the
company's moderate debt.
For the quarter ended June 30, BMC reported earnings of $82.4
million, or 44 cents a share, up from $1.2 million, or 1 cent a
share, a year earlier. Excluding items such as restructuring and
stock-compensation costs, earnings grew to 59 cents from 43
cents.
Revenue climbed 2.9% to $450 million as license sales grew 12%
but maintenance revenue dropped 1.2%. Professional services revenue
dropped 5.9%.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share earnings
of 49 cents on revenue of $441 million.
Total bookings for the quarter dropped 19% to $390 million.
Beauchamp said a longer sales cycle and weak economic environment
contributed to the drop.
-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2480;
john.kell@dowjones.com