Juniper taxation and corruption investigations continue
But vendor paints rosier picture of global net income and demand
Juniper shares closed lower after the firm revealed on Thursday that its business practices remain under investigation in the US.
Juniper's chief financial and operations officer Robyn M Denholm and corporate controller Terrance F Spidell admitted in its 10Q filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday that it remains under investigation by the SEC as well as the US Department of Justice for breaches of that country's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
"The US Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Department of Justice are conducting investigations into possible violations by the company of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The company is cooperating with these agencies regarding these matters," Denholm and Spidell wrote in the filing.
"The company is unable to predict the duration, scope or outcome of these investigations."
New York-based Pomerantz Grossman Hufford Dahlstrom & Gross LLP is investigating these claims on behalf of Juniper investors who bought shares between 24 April 2012 and 8 August 2013.
"The investigation concerns whether Juniper Networks and certain of its officers or directors have violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934," the law firm wrote in its announcement.
Juniper's filing reveals the tax books are also still being looked at in a separate tax office investigation into its 2007-09 tax years.
Following the reveal, Friday trading on the New York Stock Exchange saw the router-maker's shares close down somewhat at $20.92 (£13.50) each, with the last shares on 9 August sold at $22.16 each.
The company's 52-week high is only $22.98, however, reached on 4 February, before falling to a low of $15.62 on 24 April.
For Q2 2013, Juniper saw broad-based growth in certain of its primary markets, although customers were continuing to be cautious about their IT spending, said Denholm and Spidell.
Net income for the half year ending 30 June 2013 was $189m – up from $74m for the same period in 2012.
"During the three and six months ended 30 June 2013, compared to the same periods in 2012, we experienced net revenue growth in the Americas, partially offset by a decline in APAC, as well as an increase in net revenues in the service provider market and improved demand in the enterprise market... primarily due to an increase from the sales of our edge routing and switching products, partially offset by a decline in our high-end security products," Denholm and Spidell wrote.
Gross margin a percentage of net revenues also rose, they said.
In EMEA, the company sold $300m worth of kit in the second quarter, comprising some 26.1 per cent of Juniper's revenue for the quarter and slightly up on the previous year quarter's $299m EMEA.
For the six months, though, EMEA sales were down as Eastern Europe service provider revenues declined in the half-year ending 30 June 2012, Denholm and Spidell said.
"We also see improving demand trends in some of our primary markets," they wrote, adding that product gross margins remain flat and are likely to continue to decline "due to competitive pricing pressure".
"Nevertheless, we are focused on executing our strategy to address the market trends of mobile internet and cloud computing, and we continue to believe there are positive long-term fundamentals for high-performance networking," they wrote.
QFabric solutions, T4000 Core Routers and EX Series switches were doing well, they said. A cost reduction programme and share repurchasing continue.
The 10Q filing also notes that several other investigations where Juniper had been named as at least nominally involved as a defendant were dismissed in July – including the 2011 consolidated shareholder derivative lawsuit dubbed Ratinova v Johnson et al, and the 2011 California State consolidated shareholder derivative lawsuit Israni v Kriens et al.
A SEC securities class action filed on 15 August 2011, City of Royal Oak Retirement System v Juniper Networks et al, was resolved in May in favour of Juniper.
The US stockmarket had not yet reopened for the week at the time of writing.