Systems management giant BMC Software Inc posted second-quarter results that were slightly better than the company previewed earlier this month. The Houston-based company reported net income down 31% year-over-year at $58.8m on revenue that jumped 41% to $415.7m. Earnings per share were $0.23, down from $0.34 in the year-ago quarter.
Excluding merger-related costs, one-time costs associated with a litigation settlement and amortization of goodwill and intangible assets arising from purchase accounting, EPS actually increased 26% to $0.44, respectively, compared to earnings of $0.35 a year ago and the First Call consensus estimate of $0.42.
The numbers came as a slight upside surprise to Wall Street, after BMC warned on October 6 that earnings would come in at about $0.40 to $0.42, when analysts had been expecting $0.43. The company said then that second-quarter earnings were impacted by delays in closing large license transactions, primarily in Europe. The company said Monday it has had top management and sales staff in Europe for several weeks now and that they are working on the sales force issues there.
BMC pointed to strong growth in distributed systems, led by the flagship Patrol products, as a prime factor behind what it claims as its ninth consecutive quarter of record revenue. For the six- month period, net income fell 51% to $75m, or $0.30 per share, on revenue up 42% at $816.4m. Excluding one-time items, EPS rose to $0.86 from $0.66 last year.
Total license revenue growth in the second quarter was 41%, with North American sales up 56% and international revenues growing only 17%. Maintenance and services revenues rose 42% year-over- year to $133.1m and accounted for 32% of the top line total. Total mainframe revenues increased 23% and total distributed systems revenues increased 92% over the second quarter of fiscal 1999.
Overall expenses in the quarter included an unusual charge of roughly $38.8m stemming from the recent settlement of claims in a lawsuit with. Peregrine/Bridge Transfer Corp, Skunkware Inc, Neon Systems Inc and others. The charge comprises a payment of $30m by BMC and an accrual of $8.8m in litigation-related expenses during the September quarter.
