Replies to post #14525 on Marketgems Earnings Trader- Trading Strong or Weak (MKTGEMS)

[Fred Langford]

Mercury Interactive Reports First Quarter Results
Wednesday April 16, 4:07 pm ET
Announces Revenue of $110.4 Million, GAAP EPS of $0.20, Cash From Operations of $53.2 Million


SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mercury Interactive Corporation (Nasdaq: MERQ - News), the global leader in business technology optimization (BTO), today reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2003.
Revenue for the first quarter of 2003 was $110.4 million, an increase of 22 percent over the $90.5 million reported in the first quarter of 2002. On a GAAP basis, net income for the first quarter of 2003 was $18.1 million, an increase of 20 percent over the $15.2 million in the comparable quarter last year. Net income for the first quarter of 2003 includes amortization of unearned stock-based compensation and intangibles of $0.6 million associated with the Freshwater Software acquisition. Net income for the first quarter of 2002 included a gain of $4.6 million associated with the early retirement of debt (or $0.03 per fully diluted share), a reversal of $0.5 million in restructuring charges and amortization of $1.0 million associated with the Freshwater Software acquisition. Diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2003 were $0.20, an increase of 18 percent over the $0.17 diluted earnings per share in the comparable quarter last year.

Deferred revenue for the first quarter of 2003 increased $21.8 million from the fourth quarter of 2002 to $181.2 million. Cash generated from operations for the first quarter of 2003 was $53.2 million compared to $27.5 million in the first quarter of 2002.

"Mercury Interactive's solid first quarter results, despite a difficult IT spending environment, demonstrate the value of our application delivery and management solutions, the viability of our business model and the ability of our team to execute," said Amnon Landan, chairman, CEO and president of Mercury Interactive Corporation. "We attribute these results to the emergence of Business Technology Optimization (BTO) as a strategic agenda for IT executives, as they strive to apply quality management principles to IT in order to optimize performance, reduce costs and align business and IT objectives."