US information solutions provider Novell has recorded a drop in net revenue for the first quarter of 2003.
The company, which operates an EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa region) support centre in Dublin, had a net revenue of US$260m compared with US$278m for the same period last year.
It also recorded a net loss of US$12m, or US$0.3 per share, including an impaired investment charge of US$11m compared to net income of US$8m, or US$0.02 per share, for the first fiscal quarter 2002.
Excluding the impact of the impairment charges and other special items in each year, net loss in the first fiscal quarter of 2003 would have been US$1m or US$0.01 per share compared to net income of US$7m or US$0.02 per share, in the first fiscal quarter of 2002.
“We benefited in the quarter from double-digit revenue growth in our identity management and secure web services offerings and ZENworks management offerings. This was offset by declines in networking software and IT consulting. First quarter revenue for Novell is typically low due to seasonal factors but a further slowing of the IT business in North America resulted in a larger than anticipated year-on-year decline,” said Novell chief executive officer Jack Messman.
For the quarter, Novell software license and maintenance revenue declined 5pc year-on-year to US$159m. Despite this decline, identity management and secure web services software had strong growth, up 37pc year-on-year to US$23m in the first quarter.
Revenue from the US was US$124m, down 16pc year-on-year. The EMEA region contributed US$103m in revenue up 6pc from the prior year. Revenue from Asia Pacific, including Japan was US$18m down 6pc from the same period the previous year. Meanwhile, Canada and Latin America contributed US$15m, up 10pc from the previous year.
By Suzanne Byrne
