CA Inc. Fiscal Third-Quarter Earnings Edge Higher on Lower Expenses

   By Tess Stynes 
 

CA Inc. (CA) said earnings edged higher in the latest reporting quarter, as lower expenses offset a decline in the information-technology company's revenue.

New York-based CA's share price rose 4.7% to $28.11 in recent after-hours trading, as the company's fiscal third-quarter share earnings, excluding certain one-time items, and revenue beat expectations.

For the period ended Dec. 31, CA reported a profit of $223 million, or 53 cents a share, up from $222 million, or 50 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding stock-based compensation and other items, per-share earnings fell to 63 cents from 67 cents. Revenue decreased 5.2% to $1.03 billion, though excluding currency fluctuations, revenue fell 1%.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected adjusted per-share profit of 58 cents and revenue of $1 billion.

The company's expenses before interest and taxes declined 4.1%.

Bookings rose 16% to $1,242 billion. Excluding currency impacts, the growth was 23%.

Also known as CA Technologies, the former Computer Associates makes software for mainframe computers as well as cloud, hybrid and mobile applications. The company also has been focusing on systems management, application development and security technology.

CA last year in July acquired Rally Software Development Corp., which added a cloud-based platform for business software application developers, and IT security company Xceedium Inc. in August.

The third-quarter results benefited from recent acquisitions, increased booking renewals and improved sales execution, Chief Executive Mike Gregoire said in prepared remarks on Tuesday. "We feel that we are near an inflection point in the business," he said, adding the company affirmed its 2016 outlook and medium-term guidance.

Write to Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 26, 2016 16:58 ET (21:58 GMT)

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