Novell reports decline in Q1 prelims

Open source software vendor's Linux products boost sales

Novell has reported turnover of $230m for its preliminary first fiscal quarter results for the quarter ended 31 January 2007, a decline on the $242m it reported for the same period last year.

The open source software vendor reported $15m of turnover from Linux platform products, up 46 per cent year-on-year, and $91m of invoicing, up 659 per cent year-on-year.

Sales from Identity and Access Management was $24m, down seven per cent year-on-year. Combined sales from Open Enterprise Server and products related to NetWare declined 18 per cent from the previous year's period.

“We are very pleased with our first quarter Linux results and momentum,” said Ron Hovsepian, president and chief executive of Novell. “We have made good progress toward implementing our strategic initiatives and achieving our key fiscal year 2007 milestones. Overall, our quarterly results were mixed and we will need to improve our execution in our identity, security and systems management businesses. We feel confident that we are on the right path to put Novell on target for sustained profitability.”