VMware sales up, profits down

A busy VMware today reported its Q4 and full-year 2009 results, posting annual revenue growth of 8% to $2.0bn (£1.24bn), while fourth quarter sales grew 18% year-on-year to $608m.

VMware did not disclose sequential numbers.

The virtualisation and cloud specialist made annual GAAP net income of $197m, down 32% on 2008, while the fourth quarter figure also dropped 49% to $56m.

As expected, services revenues accounted for a hefty proportion of the growth in sales, raking in $304m in the quarter, up 52% year-on-year.

VMware president and CEO Paul Maritz hailed a "strong performance, anchored by demand for vSphere," while CFO Mark Peek added: "We are pleased with our solid fourth quarter results driven by pent-up customer demand and our successful upgrade promotion."

The vendor is targeting Q1 2010 sales of around $590m, and $2.50bn across the next 12 months.