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Adobe Systems reports 4th-quarter net loss, says demand is improving
By BARBARA ORTUTAY
AP Technology Writer
(AP) 05:35:49 PM (ET), Tuesday, December 15, 2009 (NEW YORK)
Adobe Systems Inc. said Tuesday that although it took a loss in the fiscal fourth quarter, consumer demand improved and allowed the maker of Photoshop and Flash software to post an optimistic outlook for the current period.

Adobe reported a net loss of $32 million, or 6 cents per share, for the three months that ended Nov. 27, compared with a profit of $245.9 million, or 46 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Stripping out special items such as restructuring charges and an income tax adjustment related to its October acquisition of Omniture Inc., Adobe earned 39 cents per share, surpassing Wall Street analysts' expectations.

Adobe said the quarter's sales fell 17 percent to $757.3 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting $752.5 million.

The recession has dampened demand for Creative Suite 4, the latest version of the design and desktop-publishing package that brings in much of the company's revenue. Targeting professional designers and developers, Creative Suite includes many of Adobe's applications, including Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and the Web design software Dreamweaver.

The package is costly, however, and the latest version launched in the fall of 2008, just as the financial meltdown began. As a result, analysts say some of Adobe's customers put off buying Creative Suite 4 and are waiting it out until the next version comes out.

Sasa Zorovic, an analyst with Janney Capital Markets, expects Creative Suite 5 will likely launch in May.

For the current quarter, Adobe is forecasting a profit of 34 cents to 39 cents per share, excluding items, on sales of $800 million to $850 million.

Analysts are predicting earnings of 37 cents per share on revenue of $798.9 million.

Adobe's first-quarter forecast includes about $78 million to $83 million from Omniture, the Web analytics software maker it acquired for $1.8 billion in October. Omniture expands the company's product offerings because it provides a way for businesses to measure the effectiveness of the Web content they create using Adobe's software.

For the full year, the company earned $386.5 million, down 56 percent from a year earlier. Revenue fell 18 percent, to $2.95 billion. Over the past year, Adobe reduced its work force by about 1,300, though it gained some from the Omniture acquisition.

Adobe's shares fluctuated in after-hours trading as investors digested the news. The stock climbed 1 cents to $36.36 in extended trading after closing up 58 cents at $36.36.


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* Never figured Adobe Systems losing revenue. *

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