Design and desktop publishing software provider Adobe Systems has reported an 11% increase in net income to $245.91m for the fourth quarter 2008, on revenue up less than 1% at $915.3m. The rise in profit was attributed to higher services revenue and income tax benefits.

Operating income fell 1% to $273.19m, while diluted EPS grew 21% to $0.46. Product revenue fell 1% to $864.46m, while services and support revenue rose 31% to $50.83m.

For fiscal 2008, the company reported a 20% increase in net income to $871.81m on revenue up 13% at $3.58 billion.

Shantanu Narayen, president and CEO at Adobe, said: Our consistent execution and disciplined expense management enabled us to significantly exceed our profit targets. Although we expect 2009 will be a challenging year, we remain excited about the long-term market trends driving our business, and are confident we will emerge from the current recession stronger than ever.

Earlier this month the company announced plans to cut approximately 600 full-time jobs as part of a restructuring programme that is expected to result in pre-tax charges of approximately $44m to $50m.

Looking ahead, the company reaffirmed the financial targets it announced earlier this month. For the first quarter 2009, it expects revenue between $800m and $850m, operating margin growth between 26% and 28%, and diluted EPS between $0.30 and $0.35.