This piece has come back to haunt them....
UPDATE 1 - Computer Associates warns of Q1 results
(Adds background, Monday's closing stock price)
ISLANDIA, N.Y., July 4 (Reuters) - Business software maker
Computer Associates International Inc. <CA.N> on Tuesday warned
first-quarter earnings would fall short of Wall Street
estimates because of weak European sales and softness in its
mainframe business.
For the quarter ended June 30, analysts had expected the
company to earn 55 cents a share, according to research firm
First Call/Thomson Financial.
Computer Associates said it expects total contract value to
be in the range of $1.25 billion to $1.3 billion, compared with
$1.22 billion in the first quarter of last year. The company
said several large contracts expected to close in the final
days of the quarter have been delayed.
Shares of Islandia, N.Y.-based Computer Associates on
Monday closed at 51. The company's 52-week high was 79-7/16,
its low 42-5/16.
"Revenue wasn't as strong in the quarter as we had hoped,"
Sanjay Kumar, the company's president and chief operating
officer said in a statement. "We intend to work aggressively to
address the performance issues in our European business. With
the recently completed Sterling Software acquisition and a
refocused sales and service organization, we feel very well
positioned to capitalize on further opportunities in the
eBusiness marketplace."
Last month, following an-analyst only meeting in which some
of those who intended noted the lack of enthusiasm in the
demeanor of Chairman and Chief Executive Charles Wang and
Kumar, shares of Computer Associates plunged 8 points or 14
percent to 51 June 12. Although the executives painted a strong
picture for revenue growth for the year, they seemed more muted
about the first quarter, some analysts said of the meeting.
However, just days later, Doug Robinson, Computer
Associates' vice president of investor relations, said the
interpretations were incorrect.
A company representative could not be reached immediate
comment. |
