Symantec 1996 Annual Report Download - page 4

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T O O U R S H A R E H O L D E R S
Gordon E. Eubanks, Jr.
Fiscal 1996 marked an important and successful year for Symantec. As one of the preeminent software
companies in the world, we continued to play a major role in helping to shape the rapidly changing
personal computer market.
During the past 12 months, we took action on several fronts to ensure that we maintain the
leadership positions of our products within the industry: first, we re s t ru c t u red several of our ow n
internal business processes to better serve customer, employee, and industry expectations; second, we
i n t roduced and implemented tightly focused product strategies in high-g rowth segments of the
m a r ket; and third, we acquired Delrina Corporation to enhance our presence in the rapidly expanding
communications market.
While these investments in products, pro c e d u res, and new markets contributed to our ove r a l l
re venue growth for the ye a r, we experienced lowe r - t h an-anticipated financial re s u l t s. Nevertheless,
we firmly believe that the growth we are now seeing in several key product areas validated actions and
strategies implemented throughout the year. With record revenues of $116.0 million in the quarter
ended Ma rch 31, 1996, our re venues for fiscal ye a r 1996 totaled $445.4 million, compared with
$ 431.3 million for fiscal 1995.
During the ye a r, we re c o rded nonrecurring charges of $27.6 million, principally related to the
acquisition of Delrina Corporation. The net loss for the year, after acquisition and other nonrecurring
expenses, was $0.76 per share. Excluding one-time charges and Delrina preacquisition losses, our
operations showed a profit of $35.3 million.
Models of efficiency.
A good company seeks eve ry opportunity to improve its business processes, and Symantec in fiscal
1996 identified two areas in which focused, measured re s t ructuring resulted in greatly streamlined and
m o r e highly-effective operations.
The first of these changes was to give a greater measure of autonomy to our business units. T h i s
new arrangement, in which each group is responsible for product definition and strategy–as well as
p r ofit and loss–has fostered a healthy sense of interdependence, as each group is encouraged to share