Citrix tops estimates, splits stock

The earnings compared favorably with earnings of $24.7m (£15.31m), or 27 cents a share, in the same quarter a year ago. First Call consensus was 37 cents a share.

Including the acquisition charges, net income was $34m, or 34 cents per share, compared with net income of $22.3m, or 24 cents per share, for the year-earlier quarter.

Citrix, which makes software that allows desktop and mobile computers to run on a centralised server, said revenue was $118.1m, up 56 percent from $75.5m in the year-ago fourth quarter.

For 1999, Citrix reported operating earnings of $130.2m, or $1.35 per share, on sales of $403.3m. Including charges, the company reported 1999 earnings of $116.9m, or $1.21 per share. In 1998, Citrix reported earnings of $79.4mn, or 87 cents a share, on sales of $248.6m.

Citrix also declared a 2-for-1 stock split, its fourth split in 10 years. The split will be payable February 16 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 31. After the stock split, Citrix will have about 181 million shares of common stock outstanding.

On the product front, Citrix said it will extend its flagship product, MetaFrame, to a larger market by making it available to run networked connected computers on Unix operating systems. MetaFrame will initially be available on Sun Microsystems' Solaris Operating Environment in the second quarter.

"Enabling our customers to access UNIX, Java and Windows applications, all from a single device, is a key part of our strategy," said Mark Templeton, Citrix president and CEO, in a statement.

In addition, Citrix said another 31 application service providers (ASPs) have signed up for the company's "pay-as-you-go'' application licensing program, dubbed Citrix iLicense.

Citrix now has 45 ASPs in the program, which the company said "signals continued adoption of the service-oriented business model."

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