Profit Flat at Symantec

Updated from 4:29 p.m. EDT

Strong sales to virus-wary consumers helped Symantec(SYMC Quote) increase revenue by 28% in the fourth quarter, but a heavy charge kept earnings essentially flat with the year-ago quarter.

Shares of Symantec lost 23 cents, or 1%, after hours to $19.70 a share, after gaining 50 cents during the day. But it isn't clear if the loss was related to the earnings announcement; some analysts think investors are currently ignoring fundamentals until the merger closes.

The company admitted that final regulatory approval of its $13.5 billion merger with Veritas Software(VRTS Quote) is taking longer than expected, but Symantec CEO John Thompson said, "I haven't given up hope of closing in June."

Symantec posted a profit of $120 million, or 16 cents a share. In the same quarter last year, the antivirus software maker earned $117 million, or 16 cents a share, the company said after the closing bell Wednesday. Revenue rose 28% to $713 million.

Excluding a charge of $54 million, or 7 cents a share, for repatriating cash, the company earned $186 million, or 25 cents a share.

Analysts polled by Thomson First Call were expecting a profit of 24 cents a share on revenue of $708 million.

The consumer business was up 34% to $360.9 million and represented 51% of total revenue. Enterprise security, Symantec's next largest business, grew 23% to $255.9 million.

Looking to the first quarter, the company expects revenue of $700 million to $720 million. At the midpoint of guidance, earnings per share are estimated at 23 cents; on a pro forma basis, the company expects a profit of 25 cents.

Analysts were forecasting a 23-cent profit on sales of $701.5 million.

Symantec and Veritas, which sells software to manage data storage, agreed to merge in December 2004. The deal is expected to close during the current quarter, pending shareholder approval and approval of the companies' proxies by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which earlier in the year raised no objections to the merger itself.