CA's Preliminary Financials Lower Than ExpectedCA's Preliminary Financials Lower Than Expected

Coming off a series of major executive changes brought on by federal investigations, Computer Associates on Thursday unveiled preliminary financial results for its first fiscal quarter of 2005, ended June 30. Official results are expected July 22.

Revenue from the first quarter is expected to be between $830 million and $850 million. CA previously had told financial analysts to expect revenue of $860 million to $885 million. Earnings per share are expected to be between 5 and 7 cents according generally accepted accounting principles, the company said.

Jeff Clarke, acting chief operating officer, said in a statement that he was happy the company was coming close to meeting earnings expectations and cited tighter controls on expenses. He also said revenue was expected to grow around 8%, compared with the first fiscal quarter of 2004. That was less then expected, and Clarke attributed that to weak performance in the services market and more sales than expected of subscription-based software contracts and decreased software sales.