The company yesterday reported net income for the three months to June 30 up 19% at $68m, on revenue that was up 24% at $391m. Earning $0.41 per share, the security firm steamed past estimates, beating the analysts’ consensus by six cents.
Total current assets were $2.1bn at the end of June. But Myers said the company has no plans to use it to buy up smaller companies. The guidance given to the Street can be achieved organically, we don’t need to buy anything, he said.
We’re hoarding it and counting it right now, Myers told ComputerWire, when asked about Symantec’s intentions. The cash will prove useful to support growth in future either through M&A activity or asset acquisition, he said.
Myers highlighted 25% growth in the enterprise business and 35% growth in the consumer business, and noted that enterprise sales outside its traditional core anti-virus business grew faster than the AV business – 29% versus 24%.
The company also raised its guidance for the rest of the year. For the fiscal year ending April 2 2004, Symantec expects to report revenue of $1.665bn, with earnings per share of $1.82, up seven cents on guidance provided three months ago.
For the current second fiscal quarter, which ends in October, the company expects to report revenue $375m to $395m and earnings per share of $0.38, at the mid-point of guidance given in April.
Source: Computerwire
