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Novell hits 1Q targets
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February 25, 1999: 6:24 p.m. ET
Solid growth in NetWare 5 helps software firm more than double profit
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Novell Inc. said net profit more than doubled in its fiscal first quarter, as the networking software company racked up solid sales from the launch of a new version of its directory software.
The Provo, Utah-based company reported fiscal first-quarter net earnings of $28.9 million, or 8 cents per diluted share, compared to net profit of $14.1 million, or 4 cents per diluted share, in the same period year ago.
That was in line with the consensus estimate among Wall Street analysts surveyed by First Call Corp., which tracks corporate earnings.
Revenues rose 13 percent to $285.8 million.
Novell credited strong sales of its latest-generation NetWare 5 directory software, which is used to access network resources. The company said directory-related revenue rose 27 percent year-over-year.
"The tremendous initial response to NetWare 5 in our first quarter is being amplified by new directory-related products," Eric Schmidt, Novell's chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
"Looking forward, the stage is set for Novell and its partners to build innovative services for a rapidly growing directory market," he added.
Novell said it is eyeing opportunities in software product categories where it hasn't historically competed and is pursuing areas of the Internet-related market that are in an early stage of development.
By region, Novell's U.S. sales climbed 9 percent to $156 million, revenue from Europe, Africa and the Middle East gained 31 percent to $94 million, and sales to Asia were about steady at $22 million.
Shares of Novell (NOVL), which unveiled the earnings report after the closing bell, added 1-7/8 to 20-7/8 on Nasdaq Thursday.
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Novell
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