Novell Inc. enjoyed a revenue increase and shaved its losses in its fiscal second quarter ended April 30, though software license revenues were down in the quarter.
The Provo, Utah-based provider of identity management, Web application development and messaging software and networking and other services posted total revenues of $276 million, up from $273.9 million in the same year-ago period. Novell took a net loss of $28.6 million on that revenue, compared to a $173.5 million loss in last years second quarter.
Much of last years loss was caused by accounting charges however. The companys operating loss actually rose year-to-year, from $13.7 million to $22.5 million. Novell lost $26 million in cash from operations during the quarter.
Novell also took a hit on software license revenues, which fell from $70.4 million to $64.5 million. Service and maintenance revenues of $211.5 million, up from $203.4 million in the same period a year ago, more than made up for the shortfall though.
“Despite the continued weak IT market, we posted a 6 percent revenue increase over our first quarter and revenues were up slightly year-over-year,” said Jack Messman, Novell chairman, president and chief executive officer, in a statement. “The lack of profitability in the quarter was a disappointment, and we now plan to lower our costs to improve our business performance overall. Were confident we can do this while sustaining the momentum weve built around our newer offerings.”
Novells biggest gainer in the quarter was its identity management and secure Web services software, which accounted for $23 million in license and maintenance revenues, up 36 percent from the same period last year. On the services side, Celerant management consulting revenue was up 15 percent year-over-year to $37 million.
The United States accounted for $126 million of revenue, down 12 percent year-to-year, but Europe, Middle East and Africa offset that with a 22 percent increase to $112 million.