McAfee charts course for turnaround

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Anti-virus firm McAfee has reported a drop in first-quarter earnings despite increased turnover. For the quarter ending 31 March 2005, McAfee reported net income of $35.9m on revenues of $236m, compared to profits of $58m on a turnover of $219m in same period last year.

The lowered results reflect a change in McAfee's business - following the sale of its Magic help-disk and Sniffer vulnerability scanning businesses in 2004 - rather than more fundamental difficulties. McAfee said its core consumer security and intrusion prevention businesses are performing well. McAfee consumer revenue in the quarter grew by 114 per cent year over year to $100m. McAfee IntruShield (intrusion prevention) revenues grew have doubled since last year, it added. The firm reckons its tighter focus on the small business sector and recent launch of anti-spyware software will pave the way for future growth.

McAfee expects revenue for Q2 2005 to be between $220m and $230m. The security firm is bullish about FY2005 earnings, raising its revenue predictions to between $955m and $975m, compared to previous estimates of around $947m. McAfee's shares fell to $22.35 on Thursday after the results came out, a drop of 43 cents or around two per cent, but rallied in after-hours trading to reach $23.36. ®

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