Subscription renewals help Symantec beat estimates

Symantec Corp, best known for its Norton antivirus software, reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue as more customers renewed their subscription and due to higher demand from federal agencies.

Symantec is benefiting from higher spending by companies on security software to protect their network and data from sophisticated hacking attacks and malware.

Rival FireEye Inc on Tuesday forecast revenue for the current quarter that exceeded analysts' expectations.

Symantec's net income rose to US$236 million (S$294.68 million), or 34 cents per share, in the first quarter ended July 4, from US$157 million, or 22 cents per share, a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, the company reported a profit of 45 cents per share.

Symantec, whose security products usually come bundled with PCs, said revenue rose to US$1.74 billion from US$1.71 billion.

Analysts had expected a profit of 42 cents per share on revenue of US$1.67 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. "Symantec is being helped by a strong secular trend around cyber security spending although questions remain around the company since the exit of former CEO Steve Bennett," FBR Capital Markets analyst Daniel Ives said in an email.

Symantec fired Bennett in March, the second time it has sacked its top executive in a little more than two years. ID:nL3N0MH4HZ) Symantec said last month it was in talks with Chinese authorities following reports that China had banned use of one of its products, data loss prevention software.

Earlier this week, the company said ban only affected some types of products.

The company forecast an adjusted profit of 40-44 cents per share on revenue of US$1.60 billion to US$1.64 billion for the current quarter.

Analysts were expecting a profit of 45 cents on revenue of US$1.63 billion.

Symantec's shares closed at US$23.73 per share on the Nasdaq on Wednesday. They were marginally down at US$23.70 in after-market trading.