Global demand boosts profit for McAfee

Security software maker McAfee on Thursday posted higher first-quarter profit and revenue that topped Wall Street forecasts as demand rose worldwide.

Chief executive Dave DeWalt also said that robust technology spending and expectations that strong growth would continue spurred the company to boost its full-year financial forecast.

"We feel pretty good about the business," DeWalt told reporters on a media conference call. "There is a lot of growth... in the overall security market that gives us a bullish outlook."

For the first quarter, net income rose to $46.2m, or 28 cents per share, from $40.9m, or 25 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding items, the world's second-biggest security software maker said it posted a per-share profit of 44 cents.

On that basis, analysts on average were expecting a per-share profit of 34 cents on revenue of $292.4m, according to Reuters Estimates.

The results are preliminary because the company, as previously announced, plans to restate past financial statements because of past stock options grant practices. It said it planned to submit a pre-clearance letter with federal regulators in the second quarter.

Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Research, said the company was controlling costs and that 16 percent gains in both McAfee's consumer and enterprise business showed the software maker was finding balanced growth.

"It is the best combination for investors because they are doing well on the consumer and enterprise fronts," he said. "This is more of the same we have been seeing from McAfee with balanced growth on the consumer and enterprise fronts."

The results mark the first under new chief executive DeWalt, the high-tech industry veteran who took over the company in April amid a stock options accounting scandal and pressure to find more growth.

McAfee is preparing to restate several quarters of past financial results and to record between $100m and $150m in charges over a 10-year period because of stock options grant problems.

It is also competing against Microsoft's push into the consumer security software market, which has taken share from both McAfee and market leader Symantec, according to a recent report from research firm NPD Group.

Revenue for the quarter rose to $314m from $272m, with gains of nine percent in North America, 24 percent in Europe and the Middle East, 35 percent in the Asia Pacific and 26 percent in Latin America.

Looking ahead, McAfee expects second-quarter per-share profit before items of 33 cents to 38 cents, with revenue ranging from $295m to $310m.

For the full year, it pegged per-share profit before items at $1.55 to $1.65 per share and revenue of $1.22bn to $1.295bn.

The Wall Street view was for second-quarter profit before items of 37 cents per share on revenue of $307.5m. For the full year, analysts forecast a per-share profit before items of $1.52 on revenue of $1.24bn.

McAfee shares rose 3.4 percent to $31.30 in extended trading, after closing at $30.28, up two percent, on Thursday.

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