Adobe profit, sales fall in Q4

Adobe Systems saw profit and sales drop in its fourth quarter, but despite that, the firm proclaimed that customer demand was set to blossom in 2010.

The company reported (PDF) a decline in sales yesterday, after customers shied away from upgrading their copies of Acrobat, Flash and Photoshop apps.

In Q4 it reeled in revenue of $757.3m, compared to $915.3m for the same quarter a year earlier. Adobe said the results were somewhat impaired by the firm’s $1.8bn acquisition of internet analytics outfit Omniture Inc.

For the three months ended 27 November 2009, Adobe posted profit - excluding items - of 39 cents per share.

Adobe reported a net loss of $32m, or 6 cents per share, compared with an income of $246m, or 46 cents, for the same quarter in 2008.

“We experienced an improvement in customer demand for our products in Q4,” said Adobe boss Shantanu Narayen.

He crossed his fingers by adding that Adobe’s planned product launches next year would help increase revenue in 2010, as the economy begins to recover.

“We believe the investments we have made in the past year, and the new products we will deliver in the coming year, will drive top line growth as the economy improves,” said Narayen. ®