McAfee up, Symantec down in profits

Financial reports differ widely between top security rivals.

Profits reports for the third quarter of the year show

Symantec

struggling with disappointing sales in the European market, especially in Germany, and falling below profit expectations. The anti-virus section of the company’s business was singled out as a particularly slow performer.

The security giant made just over $123 million, a healthy amount compared to fat losses for the same period last year (thanks to the costly

Veritas

purchase), but below predicted levels. Shares prices fell 7% on Wednesday as a result of the announcement, but

Symantec

still hopes to hit its annual goals.

Rival

McAfee

, meanwhile, came in above target, with revenues approaching $288 million giving profits of around $30 million. The company saw a 6% surge in share prices after the announcement, despite recent boardroom shake-ups and the prospect of further investigations into past financial results.

Microsoft

also posted healthy profits, beating predictions, and

F-Secure

recently reported third-quarter profits up a strong 28%.

More detail and analysis can be found at

Dow Jones

‘

MarketWatch

site,

here

and

here

.

Posted on 27 October 2006 by

Virus Bulletin