Symantec CEO steps aside as 'friendly activist investor' continues reshaping

Interim boss says former CEO Clark 'didn't like' Q4 results

Symantec has announced the departure of CEO Greg Clark as it posted its Q4 results.

Richard Hill, a former chief exec at semiconductor manufacturer Novellus Systems, has taken his place - and claimed on an earnings call that the departing boss was not happy with the quarterly numbers.

The vendor's sales declined 1.7 per cent to $1.19bn (£914.7m) in the three-month period ending 29 March 2019.

"I think the reality of where we are today is - it's been a hard slog," Hill said.

"For anyone, and certainly someone with the pride of Greg, he doesn't like to see the results that happened in the fourth quarter.

"I know myself, coming out of the semiconductor capital equipment industry, we had huge cycle swings. That at times, when the business was down, I can tell you - I felt like getting out of the business for a while."

Hill said that the CEO's departure was "mutually" agreed between Clark and Symantec's board of directors, stressing that Clark's wanting to spend more time with his ageing father played a part in the decision.

The interim boss said he was connected with Symantec via Starboard, an activist investor that took a stake in the vendor last August, before stamping its authority on the board a month later.

Symantec said its consumer business performed well in the quarter, with average revenue per user rising. Total consumer billings however fell 6.6 per cent to $620m.

Enterprise security was blamed for the disappointing performance, coming in below previous guidance.

Enterprise security billing tanked more than 30 per cent to $712m.

"Despite this weakness, we remain confident in our integrated cyberdefence strategy, which has produced a strong and competitive product portfolio," Hill claimed.

"Moving forward in enterprise security, we are focused on operational discipline, increasing sales productivity, expanding operating margins and managing the shift to our ratable cloud-delivered solutions."