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Dow Jones - www.dowjones.com
Business Objects Reports Record 3Q Rev Up 18 % And A Significant Increase In Profitability
By Mark Boslet - Thursday October 23
PALO ALTO, Calif. (Dow Jones)--Business Objects SA (BOBJ) more than doubled its net income in the third quarter as it released a new version of its software and prepared to close its acquisition of Crystal Decisions.
The French software maker has observed that global spending on information technology is "seeing some signs of improvement overall, and in (business intelligence software) in particular," said President and Chief Operating Officer John Olsen.
On a conference call Thursday, the company reiterated that it expects to close its planned $820 million acquisition of Crystal Decisions in the fourth quarter.
It also said customers have favorably received its Enterprise 6.1 software. Software license revenue was up 8% to $58 million, the highest third-quarter level in the company's history.
For the quarter, Business Objects posted net income of $10.8 million, or 17 cents a share, compared with $4.9 million, or 8 cents, a year ago. Last year's results included $3.3 million of non-recurring expenses.
Revenue came in at $129.1 million, up 18% from $109.9 million in the year-ago period.
Analysts had been looking for earnings of 16 cents a share and revenue of $123 million, according to Thomson First Call.
Business Objects also lifted its outlook for the fourth quarter. The company expects revenue between $144 million and $147 million and earnings of 25 cents to 28 cents a share. Wall Street had previously projected $140 million in sales and earnings of 25 cents a share.
In the year-ago fourth quarter, the company had net income of $12.8 million, or 20 cents a share, on revenue of $126.2 million.
In after-hours trading Thursday, the company's American Depositary Receipts advanced $2.84, or 10%, to $31.50. The stock fell 31 cents, or 1.1%, in the regular session.
