Adobe shares surge on strong 1Q profit

By AMANDA FEHD

Associated Press Writer

David Duprey / AP Photo

Adobe Systems Inc. software is for sale on a shelf at Best Buy in Clarence, N.Y., Tuesday, March 18, 2008. Adobe is expected to announce quarterly earnings after the closing bell.

Adobe forecast just 13 percent revenue growth for the year, however, even though its revenue rose 37 percent in the first three months of its fiscal year.

That forecast tells Global Crown Capital analyst Martin Pyykkonen that troubles in the broader economy might be causing Adobe to be a little cautious, at least with its guidance.

"They are a conservative company normally and somewhat more so tone-wise right now, which is just basic prudence, nothing that I think they are signaling," Pyykkonen said.

At the same time, he said the forecast did seem conservative.

"When you just did 37 in the quarter and you are guiding for 13 for the year, that's one of the things people do get a little frustrated on with Adobe. You know, come on, get real. If you are going to do 13 percent this year, you are basically saying the year is going to fall apart," Pyykkonen said.

Shareholders drove Adobe shares higher on Wednesday. Its shares rose $4.16, or 13.1 percent to $36.04 in midday trading. It reported earnings after the market closed on Tuesday.

The projected 13 percent growth in Adobe's annual revenue would bring it to $890.4 million for 2008. The company also issued new guidance that earnings per share would be $1.45 to $1.51 for the year. Excluding special items like stock-based compensation, it forecast earnings per share of $1.86 to $1.92.

"We are not immune to any type of recession, were one to come, and we are keeping our eye on the U.S. business," Adobe Chief Financial Officer Mark Garrett told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday. Garrett said the company's diversification in terms of products, geography and customers help it weather economic downturns.

For the three months ended Feb. 29, Adobe posted a profit of $219.4 million, or 38 cents per share, according to an earnings report after the close of trading Tuesday.

That was up from $143.9 million, or 24 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, Adobe earned 48 cents per share in the latest quarter. On the same basis, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected, on average, earnings of 45 cents per share on sales of $875.8 million.

Booming growth in digital content, from Web sites to online publishing, drove demand for Adobe's products, the company said.

The quarter was the first for Adobe's new chief executive, Shantanu Narayen, who took over from former CEO Bruce Chizen in December.

Narayen also responded with confidence to concerns about the wider economy during a conference call with investors.

"We know how to balance between investing for the long-term, as well as dealing with any short-term hiccups that might happen. We get all this data, but frankly in many cases these are the times when the strong companies like Adobe actually get stronger," Narayen said.

Greatest threat facing Britain is flu pandemic which could kill 750,000, says Brown

Comments (14)

Flu jab: But there are fears up to 750,000 to die if a pandemic hit Britain

It concluded that there is a "high probability" of an outbreak reaching Britain, with the speed at which a deadly virus would spread around the world greater than ever before.

The first ever national security strategy, published yesterday after several months' delay, estimated that a pandemic would cause between 50,000 and 750,000 deaths.

The Government has drawn up detailed plans for dealing with such a huge death toll, as well as other potential national emergencies such as terror strikes, extreme flooding, cyber-attacks and climate change events.

It yesterday proposed a modern-day "Dad's Army" made up of volunteers who could help deal with a flu pandemic, evacuate elderly people in the event of a flood or play a role in the aftermath of a terrorist attack.

Officials said the new "civil defence network" would be modelled on air raid precaution wardens - or ARPs - who patrolled the streets during World War Two bombing raids.

A separate 1,000-strong civilian force, made up of police, emergency service workers, and judges, is to be assembled to be sent to foreign trouble-spots.

It will be deployed to assist failing states and to help rebuild countries emerging from conflict.

Warning: Aftermath of the 2005 Tavistock Square bomb, which killed 13 innocent people

A national "register of risks" - a regularly-updated assessment of the dangers facing Britain previously held confidentially within Government - is also to be published, starting later this year.

The Cabinet Office document said the move would enable communities to "prepare better" for potential disasters.

Though a large section focused on the threat from al-Qaeda terrorism, it concluded the a flu pandemic posed the gravest danger.

Britain is recognised as being in the vanguard in preparing for such a pandemic, but better planning should be in place at a local level on how to respond, the report says.

The Government is to work closely with international health bodies on early warning systems, preparing potential vaccines and how to restrict travel in the event of an outbreak.

Mass graves, inflatable mortuaries, 24-hour cremations and express funerals could all be used.

In a normal winter, the influenza virus kills about 12,000 people in Britain, most of them elderly. But history shows that the flu virus can mutate into a new strain that is resistant to existing drugs.

Most famously, the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 killed 228,000 people in the UK and an estimated 20 to 40million worldwide.

Experts say a flu pandemic is now overdue, either from the mutation of the normal human flu virus, or of bird flu.

The second highest threat identified by the report was coastal flooding on a scale that last took place along 1,000 miles of the east coast in 1953, killing 300 people.

"Even with today's improved defences, a repeat of coastal or tidal flooding on that scale could result in the flooding of hundreds of thousands of properties, and the need to evacuate and shelter hundreds of thousands of people," it says.

Gordon Brown: Calling for changing methods to match changing national security threats

Britain faces a "serious and sustained" threat from violent extremists claiming to act in the name of Islam, the report also warns.

It also predicts that energy could be one of the biggest causes of conflict in coming decades, with demand set to increase 50 per cent by 2030.

Mr Brown told MPs threats to Britain had "changed out of all recognition" in recent years.

"Our new approach to security also means improved local resilience against emergencies, building and strengthening local capacity to respond effectively in a range of circumstances from floods to possible terrorism incidents," he said.

"Not the old Cold War idea of civil defence but a new form of civil protection that combines expert preparedness for potential emergencies with greater local engagement of individuals and families themselves."

Mr Brown announced that the number of security service staff is to rise to 4,000 and four regional counter-terrorism units and four regional intelligence units are to be set up to help the police.

New measures would also be published next month to boost the way schools, universities and prisons work to disrupt radicalisation in their midst, he said.

Britain would continue to seek to use diplomacy to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world.

And a new National Security Forum featuring up to 30 experts from academia and other areas will advise another body set up last summer, the National Security Committee.

Mr Brown also promised greater transparency in the work of the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), a Parliamentary body which oversees the security services MI5 and MI6, and other areas.

Conservative leader David Cameron said the prime minister's statement "sounded more like a list than a strategy".

He insisted the Government should set up a permanent US-style security council to implement its strategy, rather than a string of "talking shops".

Mr Cameron asked why the Prime Minister had failed to ban extremist group Hizb-ut-Tahrir, or created a border force with police powers.

ADVERTISEMENT

Iconocast is about learning and teaching without borders; we offer eMarketing, Internet Advertising, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Online Branding, and eMarketing News Services.

Iconocast Home Page

Contact Iconocast

Iconocast Health Articles

© 2003-07. ICONOCAST is a trademark of iconocast.com.