Novell Q2 profitable before charges, net loss widens

PROVO: Networking software maker Novell Inc. said on Thursday that its fiscal

second-quarter net loss widened from a year earlier, but excluding charges the

company beat analyst's expectations by reporting a profit.

The Provo, Utah-based company said it could be profitable in the third

quarter. Novell recorded a net loss of $173.5 million, or 48 cents per share,

compared with a second-quarter loss of $151.3 million, or 48 cents per share, a

year ago.

Excluding the impact of $190 million in pre-tax charges largely from the

write-down of goodwill, impaired investments and restructuring, the company said

it earned 3 cents per share, compared with a loss of 3 cents per share a year

earlier. Three analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call on average had projected

the company to post earnings of nil for the quarter, excluding special items.

Revenues rose to $274 million from $241 million a year earlier, according to

the Provo, Utah-based company. Novell said it expects fiscal third-quarter

revenues to be flat from the second quarter, allowing the company to be

profitable in the third quarter. The company had not previously given guidance

for the third quarter.

Revenues came in at the top end of what the company had expected due to more

controlled expenses than originally projected, Ron Foster, chief financial

officer, said in an interview. For the full year, revenue is expected to be $1.1

billion or greater, he said. Previous full-year revenue guidance was for $1.08

billion.

"We're seeing some stabilization of the information technology

marketplace," Foster said. As a result, the company expects to see

improvement in its consulting business, which has stumbled in past quarters, he

added.

Shares of Novell have fallen about 17 per cent since the beginning of the

year. The shares were unchanged at a close of $3.80 on the Nasdaq but were

trading as high as $4.06 in after-hours trade on Instinet. The stock has

slightly underperformed the S&P Index over the past year, dropping about 18

per cent while the S&P has dropped about 15 per cent.