Hyperion Posts Strong Earnings as CEO Steps Aside

Hyperion Solutions Corp. on Wednesday joined the chorus of software companies separating the chairman and CEO roles, while reporting revenue and profit increases and a small acquisition.

The business performance management and intelligence software company announced that Jeff Rodek is relinquishing the CEO title while remaining as executive chairman of the board. Godfrey Sullivan, president and chief operating officer since October 2001, will assume the CEO role and join the board of directors.

“For many companies, separating the chairman and CEO positions is the right thing to do,” Rodek said, adding that the move is part of Hyperions focus on “building world-class governance.”

“The responsibilities and the duties of the chairman are growing. Its tough to do both jobs anymore.”

Rodek, whos been Hyperions CEO for nearly five years, said the move would allow him to spend more time with his family as well.

He leaves on a strong note after Hyperion reported fiscal fourth-quarter total revenues of $176.4 million for the period ended June 30, up from $138 million in the same period a year ago.

License revenue climbed from $55.6 million to $72.2 million year-to-year. That helped send Hyperions net income for the quarter up to $14.7 million from $9.2 million in last years fiscal fourth quarter.

For the fiscal year, Hyperion recorded revenues of $622.2 million, up from $510.5 million in the previous fiscal year. Net income rose from $34.1 million to $43.8 million.

/zimages/4/28571.gifClick hereto read about Hyperions addition of Sarbanes-Oxley solutions.

Rodek said Hyperion saw increased investments from its existing 9,000-strong customer base, as well as adding 300 new customers in the quarter, mostly from its acquisition of Brio Technology Corp., which closed last October.

“Planning applications had their best quarter ever, and we closed our single largest deal for Hyperion Financial Management,” Rodek said.

Hyperion also announced the acquisition Wednesday of QIQ Solutions Pty. Ltd., a 20-person Australian company. It develops technology that allows Hyperion users to design their own dashboards without needing programming skills.

QIQs software has been used in combination with Brios reporting software for several years and already comes preintegrated with Hyperions Performance Suite 6.5, Rodek said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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