Cost-cutting leaves Novell with profitable quarter

Novell has posted a US$16.7m (£10.2m) profit for its third quarter, largely down to cost-cutting measures and strong Linux sales.

The company reported revenues of US$216m (£132m), 12 per cent down from the same period last year, when the company reported a US$15m (£9.2m) loss on revenues of US$245m (£150m). The company said that it had cut costs dramatically over the past year.

"Revenue performance was similar to many companies in the software industry, " said Novell president Ron Hovsepian. "We remain focused on delivering strong operating margins even as we continue to invest to generate long-term revenue growth."

Novell recorded particularly strong Linux sales. The Open Platform Solutions division reported revenues up 22 per cent to US$40m (£24m), with US$38m (£23m) of that coming from Linux platform products.

By contrast, revenue from Novell's Identity and Security Management division was down 16 per cent to US$30m (£18m). Product revenue from the Systems and Resource Management division was down 15 per cent at US$40m (£24m), and workgroup revenue of US$81m (£49m) decreased 12 per cent.