RSA Reports Loss for Q4 and Year

RSA Security Inc. on Thursday reported a loss of $0.18 per share for the fourth quarter, compared with earnings of $1.70 per share in the same period in 2000.

The company also announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission has begun a formal investigation into the companys change of accounting methods, which RSA announced in its 10-Q statement in the first quarter of 2001. The SEC is looking into whether the company should have announced the change in a press release a few weeks before the 10-Q statement.

John Kennedy, chief financial officer of RSA in Bedford, Mass., said the investigation should have no material effect on the companys financial standing.

Revenue for the quarter came it at $63 million vs. $78.1 million a year ago. Total revenue for 2001 was $282.7 million, with a net loss of $0.04 per share, vs. revenue of $280 million and earnings of $0.68 per share in 2000.

Excluding losses from RSA Capital and other noncore operations, the company earned $0.01 per share on net income of $400,000. Analysts expected the company to report break-even earnings for the quarter.

RSA officials said they expect the companys core operations to earn $0.01 to $0.03 per share in the first quarter of 2002 and expect to report a loss of $0.04 to $0.05 per share overall.

“CIOs will continue to be very cautious with their budgets [in 2002], but with a greater emphasis on security spending,” said Art Coviello, CEO of RSA.