Profit down, layoffs ahead for Autodesk

Daily Newsletters

Topics

NEWS

Software maker Autodesk continued to feel the sting of a lumbering economy Thursday, reporting second-quarter earnings and sales down significantly from a year ago and announcing it would lay off seven percent of its work force. Earnings for the quarter, which ended 31 July, totalled $12m (£7.3m), or 10 cents a share, compared with $19m (£11.6m), or 17 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Total revenue was $211m (£129m), compared with $231m (£141m) last year. Excluding restructuring costs and other charges, earnings were $15m, or 13 cents a share. On that basis, brokers polled by research firm First Call had expected earnings of 11 cents a share. Autodesk, whose main products include software for architectural drafting, industrial design and 3D animation, has felt a belated hit this year from the sluggish economy. Chief executive Carol Bartz recently imposed pay cuts for herself and other top executives and froze wages for other workers. Bartz said in an interview following the earnings announcement that with no significant economic boost expected the rest of this year, it became clear the company would have to cut jobs to trim costs. The company will lay off seven percent of its workforce -- which currently totals around 3,600 -- over the next two quarters. "In the last 60 days, the economic news has got worse," she said. "We just wanted to be in a position to ride this out." Bartz said Autodesk had fared better than many other software makers because of its presence in multiple industries but the overall economy and, particularly, a worldwide slump in major construction projects were catching up with the company. "We sell a lot to small and medium business," she said. "That's why we held up longer than most software companies last year." Autodesk has tried to buck the downturn by introducing products targeting new business segments and pushing more customers to subscription plans. Bartz said the company would continue directing its efforts, including small-scale acquisitions, to moving into these segments. "One of the most important things is to keep a strong product cycle," she said. "Companies with strong product cycles exit a slump better, because a lot of the competition goes by the wayside. You need to keep your engineers busy." The company expects revenue for the next quarter to be flat to down slightly, at $200m to $210m. Pro-forma earnings are expected to drop to between 5 cents and 10 cents a share. For the fiscal year, revenue is projected at $860m to $900m and earnings at 50 cents to 70 cents per share.

See the Finance News Section for the latest financial news in the high-tech sector. Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Go to the Finance forum. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

ZDNet UK Live

ike fuelband is great for every healthminded person ! to work out! theres this website called textme4free.com that you can use to text anywhere in...

6 hours ago by bordero on Nike's FuelBand wristband gamifies exercise

> I'm told it's somewhat annoying when people have their Macs stolen > and Apple stores treat the thief as the owner, but there you go. Ouch,...

8 hours ago by BrownieBoy on AMD Ultrathins to challenge Intel Ultrabooks

@kevinmchapman. OK, I acknowledge that 'most' was a gratuitous throwaway comment as an afterthought and too presumptuous. As to proof, as you...

13 hours ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

@BrownieBoy > Works really well for thieves.... >> Nice attempt to deflect the argument by tossing in a point that's totally >> irrelevant, even...

14 hours ago by Jack Schofield on AMD Ultrathins to challenge Intel Ultrabooks

fantastic that the so called piracy bills have been withdrawn. however, these anti-democracy supporters are still in the shadows so lets be alert...

14 hours ago by raskolnikof on SOPA, Protect IP support wavers in face of online protest

Please God no; teach them anything you like - thinking rationally, the uses and misuses of data, what data is and what it's not - but leave the...

17 hours ago by Tony Douglas via Facebook on Kids are the future. Teach ’em to code.

@Jack, > Works really well for thieves.... Nice attempt to deflect the argument by tossing in a point that's totally irrelevant, even it were...

1 day ago by BrownieBoy on AMD Ultrathins to challenge Intel Ultrabooks

Make that 13 people now - I got refused today at Manchester airport. I thought I was up to date on this legislation - I knew of the EU ruling from...

1 day ago by bootlegger on UK airport body scans will not be opt out

Don't forget to check out apps like GoodReader or SlideShark either, they're indispensible for people on the go in presentation situations. Best...

2 days ago by tinycg on Four top iPad apps for people on the move

Well it seems there is something a number of us agree on. Why is the Ubuntu Unity launcher so ugly? I thought perhaps it was something to do with...

2 days ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

2 days ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

2 days ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint