CA Beats Estimates

SAN FRANCISCO - In a sign of the company's successful turnaround, CA(CA) beat Wall Street's first-quarter earnings expectations Thursday despite a weak economy.

Revenue at the Islandia, N.Y. software company grew 6% to $1.09 billion, from $1.025 billion in the same quarter of 2007. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were looking for a top line of $1.1 billion.

The bottom line jumped 55% to $200 million, or 37 cents a share, vs. $129 million, or 24 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Excluding special charges, EPS was 40 cents, five cents ahead of the Street's estimates.

Shares in the developer of IT management software were up 48 cents, or 2%, to to $24.50 in extended trading.

For the full year, CA reaffirmed guidance for a top line of $4.5 billion to $4.6 billion and EPS, excluding special items, of $1.45 to $1.52. Analysts are projecting revenue of $4.55 billion and EPS of $1.47.

The company's operating margin rose 7 percentage points year over year to 28%. Excluding charges, the operating margin was 31%, a 6-point gain.

Under new leadership, the company has come back from prior internal mismanagement, including fraud.

CA competes with BMC Software(BMC), EMC(EMC) and IBM(IBM).

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