PeopleSoft rides licenses past 2Q estimates

PeopleSoft (Nasdaq: PSFT) beat the consensus forecast by a penny in the second quarter.

After market close Thursday, the vendor of enterprise resource planning software reported second quarter net income of $15.9 million, or 6 cents per share. First Call's survey of 14 analysts predicted a profit of 5 cents per share for the second quarter ended June 30.

Shares of PeopleSoft traded at $21.89 in afterhours activity on the Island electronic communications network, following the earnings report. PeopleSoft stock closed Thursday's regular session at 22 11/16, up 5/8 for the session.

Second quarter evenue rose to $420.2 million from $360.7 million in the year ago period. Software license fees rose 37 percent year-over-year to $109.8 million, largely fueled by eBusiness demand, the company said. Revenue from human resource and financial software -- a field several ERP vendors have targeted for future growth -- improved 38 percent. Supply chain management revenue rose 44 percent.

"Demand for PeopleSoft was strong across every product line and geography," said CEO and President Craig Conway, noting that PeopleSoft's quarterly license revenue broke $100 million for the first time since 1998.

PeopleSoft is counting heavily on growth from its latest ERP offering, PeopleSoft8. The company's second quarter expenses rose 10.5 percent year-over-year because of development and marketing costs for the new software suite.>