Novell delays earnings report

. . . keeping an eye on the penguin

Keywords: Match:

Dec. 06, 2007

Novell stockholders were unpleasantly surprised on Dec. 5, when instead of hearing from Novell on how the Linux distributor had done over the last quarter and the full 2007 fiscal year, they were presented with an earnings announcement postponement instead.

The cause for this last minute delay was a pair of unresolved issues with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The details of the SEC questions aren't available. What we do know is that the SEC asked questions in August about Novell's Form 10-K, a comprehensive overview of the company's business and financial condition, for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2006, and its Form 10-Q, which contains unaudited financial statements and a view of the company's financial position, for the quarterly period that ended April 30, 2007.

Novell delivered a response letter to the SEC on Sept. 20, 2007. On Oct. 18, Novell received a second comment letter from the SEC indicating that the SEC had reviewed Novell's response to the Aug. 7, 2007 letter. The second comment letter was limited to certain accounting matters. Novell responded to the SEC's second comment letter on Nov. 7, 2007 and is still awaiting an SEC response.

With these issues still in the balance, Novell has elected to not issue its fourth quarter and year-end reports. "We are confident of our accounting and are working diligently with the SEC to respond to their inquiries," said Dana C. Russell, Novell's chief financial officer. "In an abundance of caution, we have chosen to postpone our earnings release. We look forward to completing our dialogue with the SEC."

Broadpoint Capital Inc., an investment bank, expects Novell to report total fourth quarter revenues of $239-$252 million. Looking ahead, Broadpoint expects Novell's Linux revenue growth to continue at a healthy pace and its shift from direct sales to more of a channel-based approach to positively affect Novell's bottom line.

In its last reported quarter, Novell announced that it had net revenue of $243 million. At the same time, Novell said that its Linux business has exploded with a growth rate of 77 percent year over year.

Novell intends to release its fourth quarter and full year 2007 earnings upon the completion of the SEC's review. Novell is unable to estimate when the process will be completed, but currently expects to file its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2007 on or before its due date of Dec. 31, 2007.

—Steven J. Vaughan Nichols

Do you have comments on this story?

Talkback here
NOTE: Please post your comments regarding our articles using the above link. Be sure to use this article's title as the "Subject" in your posts. Before you create a new thread, please check to see if a discussion thread is already running on the article you plan to comment on. Thanks!

Related stories:

(Click here for further information)

7 Advantages of D2D Backup
For decades, tape has been the backup medium of choice. But, now, disk-to-disk (D2D) backup is gaining in favor. Learn why you should make the move in this whitepaper.

4 Legal Reasons to Control Internet Access
The Internet is obviously a valuable resource for many organizations. However, many are exposed to legal liability concerns because they fail to control Internet access. Learn if you're safe in this white paper.

Rapidly Resolve J2EE Application Problems
Whether you are in the process of building J2EE applications or have J2EE applications already running in production, you must ensure that they deliver the expected ROI. Learn how in this white paper.

Load Testing 2.0 for Web 2.0
There are many unknowns in stress testing Web 2.0 applications. Find out how to test the performance of Web 2.0 in this white paper.

Build Better Games Online
For the game infrastructure providers, life is complex. Making money from games has become more complicated. Why? Find out in this white paper.

Building a Virtual Infrastructure from Servers to Storage
This white paper discusses the virtual storage solutions that reduce cost, increase storage utilization, and address the challenges of backing up and restoring Server environments.

Gaining Faster Wireless Connections with WiMAX
Welcome to what is quickly becoming the hyperconnected world where anything that would benefit from being connected to the network will be connected. Learn more in this white paper.

Is Your Desktop a Security Threat?
The new wave of sophisticated crimeware not only targets specific companies, but also targets desktops and laptops as backdoor entryways into those business’ operations and resources. Learn how to stay safe in this white paper.

Increasing SAN Reliability by 100 Percent
Storage area networks (SAN) are a strong part of storage plans. Learn how to increase your reliability and uptime by 100 percent in this case study.

Got a HOT tip? please tell us!

ADVERTISEMENT
(Advertise here)

Also visit:
• eWEEK's Linux center
• Dev Shed
and, our 'evil twin'...
• Microsoft-Watch.com

Latest Linux-Watch Posts

• Linux switch vendor sued over GPL
• Judge Kimball rules -- the sequel!
• Microsoft tactics push India toward Linux
• Bell, SuperMicro sued over GPL
• "Business intelligence" software goes GPL
• Will Atom bomb?
• LF Summit videos posted
• Linux gains "embedded" maintainers
• Virtualization on tap in SLES and RHEL upgrades
• Linux gets security black eye
More Linux-Watch posts

DesktopLinux headlines:
• Debian looks to launch lenny in Sept.
• Fedora adds collaboration tools
• Linux mini-PC takes two Watts to tango
• Judge Kimball rules. Ho, hum.
• Writer tells Penguinistas to chill on closed source
• Linux 2.6.26 enhances desktop Linux
• BeOS-like distro focused on content creation
• OpenSUSE rolls out auto-build service
• Best Buy, Amazon selling Ubuntu for $20
• Wine, Bordeaux ship
More DesktopLinux news

LinuxDevices headlines:
• Debian maintainer calls for embedded input
• Via contracts open source leader as liaison
• "Handheld recording studio" mixes with Linux
• Pentium M SoC takes wing
• Mobile Linux conference keynotes announced
• Debian Linux installer for NAS devices goes beta
• Industrial PCs support real-time Linux extensions
• Free webinar to unlock secrets of the Atom
• Cortex-A8 runs Linux-friendly hypervisor
• Linux mini-PC takes two Watts to tango
More LinuxDevices news

Dev Shed

Powered By Dev Shed

Linux vs. Windows?

• in the enterprise
• in gadgets & devices

Linux conquers smartphones!

...read all about 'em

news feed

Home \| News \| Forum \| About \| Contact

	Ziff Davis Enterprise Home \| Contact Us \| Advertise \| Link to Us \| Reprints \| Magazine Subscriptions \| Newsletters Tech RSS Feeds \| White Papers \| ROI Calculators \| Tech Podcasts \| Tech Video \| VARs \| Channel News
	Baseline \| Careers \| Channel Insider \| CIO Insight \| DesktopLinux \| DeviceForge \| DevSource \| eSeminars \| eWEEK \| Enterprise Network Security \| LinuxDevices \| Linux Watch \| Microsoft Watch \| Mid-market \| Networking \| PDF Zone \| Publish \| Security IT Hub \| Strategic Partner \| Web Buyer's Guide \| Windows for Devices
	Developer Shed \| Dev Shed \| ASP Free \| Dev Articles \| Dev Hardware \| SEO Chat \| Tutorialized \| Scripts \| Code Walkers \| Web Hosters \| Dev Mechanic \| Dev Archives \| igrep
Use of this site is governed by our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Except where otherwise specified, the contents of this site are copyright © 1999-2008 Ziff Davis Enterprise Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff Davis Enterprise is prohibited. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

Home \| News \| Forum \| About \| Contact

	Ziff Davis Enterprise Home \| Contact Us \| Advertise \| Link to Us \| Reprints \| Magazine Subscriptions \| Newsletters Tech RSS Feeds \| White Papers \| ROI Calculators \| Tech Podcasts \| Tech Video \| VARs \| Channel News
	Baseline \| Careers \| Channel Insider \| CIO Insight \| DesktopLinux \| DeviceForge \| DevSource \| eSeminars \| eWEEK \| Enterprise Network Security \| LinuxDevices \| Linux Watch \| Microsoft Watch \| Mid-market \| Networking \| PDF Zone \| Publish \| Security IT Hub \| Strategic Partner \| Web Buyer's Guide \| Windows for Devices
	Developer Shed \| Dev Shed \| ASP Free \| Dev Articles \| Dev Hardware \| SEO Chat \| Tutorialized \| Scripts \| Code Walkers \| Web Hosters \| Dev Mechanic \| Dev Archives \| igrep
Use of this site is governed by our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Except where otherwise specified, the contents of this site are copyright © 1999-2008 Ziff Davis Enterprise Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff Davis Enterprise is prohibited. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.