Symantec Profits Fall in Q1

Symantec saw profits drop year-over-year for the first quarter of fiscal 2010, as the company has found enterprises less willing to sign long-term deals.

"On the enterprise side, some customers focused their spending on shorter-term contracts or maintenance renewals, resulting in fewer new license deals, but stronger deferred revenue," Enrique Salem, CEO of Symantec, said in a statement July 29. 

Net income for the quarter fell to $73 million, a roughly 58 percent drop over the same period last year, when the company recorded $172 million in net income. Overall, the company recorded $1.43 billion in revenue.

To read more about Symantec's quarterly numbers from a storage perspective, click here.

Consumer revenue declined 4 percent year-over-year, while the company's storage and server business dropped 17 percent. Its security and compliance business fell 14 percent, and services dropped by 20 percent. All those numbers changed dramatically however when they were adjusted for currency changes and the extra week—the storage and server business dropped just 8 percent, the security and compliance segment just 4 percent and services 15 percent. The consumer business actually rose 6 percent when adjustments and the extra week were factored in.

Despite the number, Salem said he was pleased with the performance of the consumer side of the business, as well as the company's Norton 2009 product line. 

"We've laid the groundwork to drive improved execution in the second half of the fiscal year," he said.