Adobe Systems reports 43 percent growth in revenue for 2004

For Q1 that ended on March 5, 2004, Adobe achieved revenues worth US$ 423.3 million, compared to US$ 296.9 million, reported for Q1 of 2003 and US$ 358.6 million reported in Q4 2003.

The company has attributed the positive results to the success of the recently launched Creative Suite and the continued popularity of the Adobe Acrobat, in a statement issued by Bruce Chizen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Adobe.

Speaking about the group's performance in the Middle East, Ibrahim Lahoud, Middle East Regional Manager, Adobe Systems Europe Ltd stated, 'The Creative Suite Platform, which was launched in the region in October last year, has received tremendous positive response from creative professionals and enterprises in the Middle East. Its main selling points are maximum user flexibility and a comprehensive multi-solution offering, all at an extremely cost-effective price. The Acrobat also continues to be a popular choice among industry professionals.'

The Creative Suite Platform includes a host of products including Adobe Photoshop CS, Adobe Illustrator CS, Adobe InDesign CS, Adobe GoLive CS, Acrobat 6.0 Professional and the unique Version Cue file version manager, which makes management of several files much easier benefiting designers collaborating on projects. Creative Suite also offers tighter integration with InDesign; thus, users can edit and import files from Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop or even MS Excel without leaving InDesign. More importantly, Adobe InDesign files can also be easily converted into PDF files using Adobe's Acrobat, and emailed or transferred anywhere in the world, without affecting the formatting and fonts.

'With a flourishing, technology-driven multimedia and advertising industry in certain countries in the Middle East, we have seen increased demand for the Creative Suite Platform and Acrobat. Demand in the region has also received a boost due to the User Partnership Initiative (UPI), which aims at offering reduced prices to users of Arabic-enabled or fully localised products of Adobe software in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt,' added Lahoud.

Encouraged by the success of the Creative Suite, the company has announced plans to launch an Arabic version of its latest InDesign CS ME shortly, giving them a further edge over competitors. Adobe is optimistic of exceptional market response to the Arabic version following the successful introduction of various language versions across the globe, as well as the success of the English language version in the Middle East.

The company's GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) diluted earning per share for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2004 were US$ 0.50. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share, which does not include an investment loss from the company's venture program, also were US$ 0.50. Adobe's revised GAAP and non-GAAP first quarter earnings target range was US$ 0.36 to US$ 0.42 per share.

GAAP net income was a record US$ 123.0 million for Q1 of 2004, compared to US$ 54.2 million reported, in the first quarter of fiscal 2003, and US$ 83.3 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003. On a year-over-year basis, GAAP net income grew 127 per cent.