VeriSign falls on restated results, 4Q |
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Wed, 31 Jan 2007 23:31
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MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. (AFX) - VeriSign Inc., whose businesses range from managing the '.com' and '.net' domain names registry to network security and connectivity, said Wednesday fourth quarter sales rose 6 percent.However, the company did not report full quarterly or annual results due to a review of its historical stock option grants. VeriSign said the review, which is completed, did not find any intentional wrongdoing by managers.Hundreds of companies are currently undergoing federal or internal scrutiny for potential back-dating of stock options, to reap a higher take for the holder. The practice is not illegal but runs afoul of accounting laws if not properly disclosed.The company will restate results for the periods 2002 through 2005 and for the first quarter of 2006 to record stock-based compensation expenses of less than $200 million.Meanwhile, sales in the three months ending Dec. 31, 2006, added 6 percent to $412.7 million, from $389.1 million booked in restated results for the comparable 2005 quarter, VeriSign said. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were looking for higher sales of $417.1 million.Full-year sales declined 2 percent to $1.58 billion from $1.61 billion in 2005, both in restated results, in line with Wall Street's full-year estimate. The decrease reflects lower mobile content revenue in the first half of 2006.'We faced some challenges to top line growth in 2006, namely the divestiture of the payment gateway business and some instability in the mobile content business in the first half of the year,' said Dana Evan, chief financial officer.Shares declined 38 cents to $23.52 in after hours trading after closing at $23.90 on the regular Nasdaq session.Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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