DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

BMC Software Inc.'s (BMC) fiscal second-quarter profit grew 35% on improved margins as the maker of business software posted higher bookings, but lower revenue.

The company again raised its full-year earnings target by 8 cents a share to $2.55 to $2.65. The revenue view was reiterated. Shares rose 2.1% to $38 in after-hours trading. At the close, the stock is up 38% this year.

BMC has benefited from a trend toward virtualization, which allows one computer to do the job of many. The company has made a number of acquisitions in recent years, including Tideway Systems Ltd. earlier this month and MQSoftware in August.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, BMC posted a profit of $94.2 million, or 50 cents a share, up from $69.8 million, or 36 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding items such as restructuring and stock-compensation costs, earnings rose to 66 cents from 56 cents.

Revenue slid 1.1% to $461.8 million as license sales declined 0.9% but maintenance revenue grew 0.7%. Professional-services revenue was down 15%.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 58 cents on revenue of $463 million.

Operating margin surged to 29.2% from 22.6%.

Total bookings for the quarter rose 6% to $431 million.

-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2480; john.kell@dowjones.com