Novell Reports Mixed Bag For Q1

Novell’s revenue dipped 7 percent in its first quarter despite increased sales of its Linux and systems management software, the company said Thursday. Those gains were offset by slower sales of Novell’s workgroup products and its identity and security management software.

Novell President and CEO Ron Hovsepian said that while sales were below expectations, the company continues to carefully manage costs in an effort to maintain its operating margin.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2009 ended Jan. 31, Novell reported total revenue of $214.9 million, down 7 percent from $230.9 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2008. Net income for the quarter was $10.7 million, down 36 percent from $16.8 million in the same period one year earlier.

Novell reported that revenue generated by its open platform solutions, primarily its SUSE Linux software, grew 19 percent in the first quarter to $37.1 million from $31.1 million last year. Systems and resource management software likewise grew almost 9 percent to $40.3 million from $37.0 million one year earlier.

But on the downside, Novell said sales of identity and security management products dropped nearly 13 percent to $28.3 million in the first quarter from $32.3 million last year. And workgroup software sales were down more than 9 percent to $81.4 million from $89.8 million one year earlier.

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