Novell Gets 3Q Earnings Lift

Novell on Thursday reported earnings of $23 million for its fiscal third quarter, marking a significant improvement over a loss of $12.4 million a year earlier.

The Waltham, Mass.-based software vendor also saw revenue in the quarter ended July 31 rise to $305 million, compared with $283 million a year ago.

Jack Messman, chairman and CEO of Novell, was less impressed by his company's revenue gain than he was with the earnings turnaround.

"While revenue was not as strong as we would have liked, Novell improved earnings performance for the quarter and nine-month period vs. the same period last year," Messman said in a statement.

As part of its third-quarter 2004 results, Novell reported revenue of $12 million from its fledgling SuSE Linux business. Novell purchased SuSE in November 2003 in an effort to breathe new life into its operations.Of the Linux factor, Messman said, "Novell's transition to growth company status is well under way as we strengthen our products and services in both the Linux and identity management categories. Our SuSE Linux business performed well in this quarter and is proving instrumental in positioning Novell as a strategic vendor to large enterprises."

Novell reported that of subscription sales to SuSE Linux Enterprise Server, 12,000 units of the total 19,000 units sold in the quarter went to one customer.