BMC Posts 3Q Loss, Revenue Dips 17 Percent

BMC Software

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, the Houston-based company reported a loss of $94.5 million, or 39 cents per share, compared with a profit of $21.9 million, or 9 cents per share, the same quarter a year ago.

Excluding special items and amortization of goodwill and intangible assets, BMC reported a profit of $19.9 million, or 8 cents per share, meeting raised expectations issued by the company earlier this month.

Wall Street analysts expected BMC to earn 7 cents per share, according to First Call/Thompson Financial.

Revenue dropped to $320.2 million, down 17 percent from $385.5 million the same quarter last year.

"We're doing well in both competitive wins and competitive displacements against our larger competitors such as IBM Software Group and Computer Associates, as well as wins against our smaller niche competitors," said Bob Beauchamp, president and CEO of BMC, during a conference call.

BMC displaced its competition in accounts such as McDonald's, Guardian Life Insurance and Clorox during the quarter, he said.

The company ended the quarter with more than $1 billion in cash and marketable securities and no debt, Beauchamp said.

BMC also named John Cox as CFO. Cox had been serving as acting CFO for the past year.

"Although we are pleased with our third-quarter results and the corresponding sequential improvement, the economic environment remains challenging and we do not see any significant improvement in these conditions," Beauchamp said.

The vendor expects earnings of 9 cents to 11 cents per share for the fourth quarter and earnings of 27 cents to 30 cents per share for 2002, Beauchamp said.

Shares of BMC closed up $1.09 at $20.79 Thursday prior to the announcement.