Novell misses target — shares drop 5.4%

Shares of Novell Inc., which sells networking software and computer-consulting services, fell 5.4 percent Wednesday after fourth-quarter sales missed estimates.

Novell shares dropped 34 cents to close at $5.99 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. They've fallen 32 percent this year.

Sales declined 15 percent from a year earlier to $244.9 million in the period ended Oct. 31, the company, based in Waltham, Mass., said Tuesday. Analysts estimated sales of $261.3 million, based on 15 surveyed by Bloomberg.

Novell, which has about one-third of its 5,200-person work force in Provo, also forecast fiscal 2007 revenue of $945 million to $975 million, short of the $999.8 million average analysts' estimate.

Novell's sales dropped for the fourth quarter in a row as Linux revenue failed to make up for falling sales of older products. Novell said the latest results were preliminary, citing a continuing review of stock-option grants.

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