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Siebel, BMC warn on earnings

Dawn Kawamoto CNET News

Published: 08 Jul 2004 08:55 BST

Siebel Systems and BMC Software both warned on Wednesday that they would miss analysts' second-quarter earnings projections, citing a delay in buying decisions by prospective customers.

Siebel, which makes business software applications, said it expects to generate about $301m in revenues for the quarter ended 30 June. Analysts expected the company to generate $353m in revenue, according to First Call.

"These disappointing results were primarily due to unexpected delays in purchasing decisions by certain prospects and customers near the end of the quarter," the company stated in a release.

Siebel expects to post operating income of between $2m and $4m in the quarter, according to the company. It did not break out its figures on a per-share basis. Analysts were expecting the company to report earnings of 7 cents a share, according to First Call.

The software maker is the latest applications vendor to warn its second quarter results would be less than expected. Earlier on Wednesday, PeopleSoft warned that its second-quarter earnings would come in weaker than expected.

Siebel was down sharply in after-hours trading to $7.65. During the regular session, Siebel closed at $9.21, up 2.56 percent from the previous day.

BMC said its revenues are expected to be between $318m and $328m. In April, the company had predicted revenues between $345m and $355m.

BMC also lowered its earnings forecast to 11 to 14 cents a share, compared with its earlier projections of 12 to 16 cents a share.

Shares of BMC fell to $15.30 in after-hours trading. During the regular session, BMC closed at $16.67, a decline of 1.36 percent.