With more than half of its revenue now coming from outside the U.S., Symantec
ended its fiscal year on a high note on Wednesday.
The security software company posted earnings of US$309 million, or $0.36 per
share, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, which ended March 28. That was
up 50 percent from last year's results and better than analyst expectations.
In a poll of 27 estimates by Thomson Financial, financial analysts forecast
earnings to be $0.34 per share, on average.
Analysts expected revenue of $1.53 billion; Symantec reported $1.54 billion.
After struggling to manage its 2005 acquisition of storage giant Veritas software,
Symantec performed well during its 2008 fiscal year. A weakening U.S. currency
and strong growth outside of the U.S. have helped the company's bottom line.
Symantec said that 53 percent of its revenue now comes from outside of the
U.S., where the company saw a 15 percent growth rate, year-over-year. Asia is
the fastest-growing region, with revenue growing at 19 percent. In Europe, the
Middle East and Africa, the growth rate was 17 percent.
The company didn't do as well in the U.S., Latin America and Canada, where
revenue was up 10 percent over the same period.
In a statement, Symantec CEO John Thompson called the company's current offerings
"the strongest product portfolio we've had in years."
