Novell Still Sliding After Earnings Report; Goldman Cuts Rating

Shares of

Novell

(NOVL)

fell in the aftermath of its fourth-quarter earnings report, which indicated a 21% decline in revenue from the same period a year ago.

Goldman Sachs

also cut its rating on the company to market perform from market outperform this morning.

Novell, which provides network and Internet directory software and services, recently slipped 19.4%, or $1.44, to $5.97 in

Nasdaq

trading.

The company said it broke even on a per share basis in the fourth quarter, meeting analysts' expectations. Revenue for the quarter fell to $273.3 million from $344.6 million a year ago.

The Provo, Utah, company also said growth in its new Internet-based services could not offset the rapid sales decline elsewhere, and warned that sales would likely be flat in the coming year.