OREANDA-NEWS. Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) today reported the results of its first quarter of fiscal year 2016, ended July 3, 2015.

Michael A. Brown, president and CEO, said, “We made encouraging progress in several product segments, achieving growth in our enterprise security business for the first quarter in two years. However, our revenue was flat in Q1, adjusting for currency and an extra week in the June 2014 quarter. Reaching a definitive agreement to sell Veritas marks an important inflection point for Symantec. With a strong product pipeline of more than a dozen enterprise security products on track to be released this year, Symantec is now focused on extending its lead as the world’s largest cybersecurity company.”

Thomas Seifert, executive vice president and CFO, said, “The $8 billion sale price for Veritas delivers a certain and attractive valuation, and simplifies the separation process. We remain committed to returning significant cash to shareholders, by announcing an increase to our share repurchase authorization to $2.6 billion. We also intend to maintain our dividend at 15 cents per common share, which represents an increased and attractive payout ratio for a company of Symantec’s size post-separation.”

Results for the First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2016 (Dollars in millions, except EPS)
  1Q16 1Q15 Reported Y/Y
Change		 FX Adjusted
Y/Y Change		 FX and 14th Week
Adjusted Y/Y Change
GAAP
Revenue $1,499 $1,735 (14%) (7%) 0%
Operating Margin 13.4% 18.6% (520) bps (230) bps N/A
Net Income $117 $236 (50%) N/A N/A
Deferred Revenue $3,419 $3,713 (8%) (1%) (1%)
EPS (Diluted) $0.17 $0.34 (50%) N/A N/A
CFFO $300 $293 2% N/A N/A
Non-GAAP
Operating Margin 27.4% 24.6% 280 bps 480 bps N/A
Net Income $275 $313 (12%) N/A N/A
EPS (Diluted) $0.40 $0.45 (11)% N/A N/A
Second Quarter and Fiscal Year 2016 Guidance (Dollars in millions, except EPS and FX rate)
  2Q16 FY16
GAAP
Revenue $1,485 - $1,525 $6,210 - $6,350
Operating Margin 13.0% - 15.0% 14.5% - 15.5%
EPS (Diluted) $0.19 - $0.22 $0.86 - $0.96
Non-GAAP
Operating Margin 26.0% - 28.0% 29.0% - 30.0%
EPS (Diluted) $0.40 - $0.43 $1.80 - $1.90
Tax Rate 24.0% 27.5%
Share Count 690 million 694 million
FX Rate (€/$) $1.11 $1.13

Symantec's Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per common share to be paid on September 16, 2015 to all shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 26, 2015. The ex-dividend date will be August 24, 2015.

Symantec’s Board of Directors has also authorized an increase to its share repurchase program to $2.6 billion.