Computer Associates International Provides Preliminary Fourth Quarter and Full-Year Results - Final.

Original Source: FD (FAIR DISCLOSURE) WIRE

OPERATOR: At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Computer Associates conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer period. (OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS).

Thank you. Ms. Glass, you may begin your conference.

JEANNE GLASS, VP, IR, COMPUTER ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL, INC.: Thank you, operator. Good morning, and thank you for joining us. My name is Jeanne Glass, Vice President of Investor Relations at CA. Joining me today will be our COO, Jeff Clarke, and Doug Robinson, our Controller. The purpose of our call today is to provide preliminary fourth-quarter and full fiscal year '04 results. We will also update you on our schedule for full reporting, followed by a short Q&A with Jeff and Doug.

Before we begin, we need to note that this conference call is being broadcast over the phone and via a live Webcast open to all interested parties. The content, which is being preserved by means of a recording, is the property of Computer Associates, and is protected by U.S. and international copyright law, and may not be reproduced, transcribed or produced in any way without the express written consent of Computer Associates. We consider your continued participation in this call to be a consent to our recording.

I would also like to advise everyone that today's discussion may contain what some may view as forward-looking statements, under the federal securities laws. Consistent with all of our public statements, there can be no assurance that future results will be achieved, and actual results could differ materially from forecasts and estimates. Please refer to the Safe Harbor provisions contained in our earnings announcements and our SEC filings for further elaboration of the risks involved.

You should also note that, in accordance with SEC regulations, all guidance given regarding our business and future performance will be disseminated in a public forum such as this call, which is Webcast and available to any interested party on our Website. All future guidance and material information will be provided in accordance with requirements of Regulation FD.

With that, please join me in welcoming our COO, Jeff Clarke. Jeff?

JEFF CLARKE, COO, COMPUTER ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL, INC.: Thank you, Jeanne. Good morning and thank you for joining us on such short notice. As many of you are probably aware, we had a slight glitch this morning, and the initial press release contained a correction related to the fourth-quarter non-GAAP operating earnings per share numbers. We quickly issued a corrected press release at 9:27 AM, stating that the fourth-quarter non-GAAP operating earnings per share are expected to be 17 to 18 cents per share.

Now, let's get on to reviewing the scope of today's announcement. First, a delay in reporting fourth-quarter and full-year earnings; second, preliminary numbers from the quarter and full year; and, third, an adjustment to our earnings in the second and third quarters of fiscal 2004. Let's go through them in that order.

As we stated in our press release, we will delay fourth-quarter and full-year earnings for one to two weeks. The reason is this. The time-consuming process of compiling the restatement of CA's 2000 and 2001 fiscal-year results diverted literally thousands of hours, many of which would otherwise have been focused on the quarterly and full-year reporting. But the Company's priorities were sound. The restatement of 2000 and 2001 was a necessary step in moving CA forward, and towards closure on the pending DOJ and SEC investigations. Having said that, let me state the obvious. No Company wants to delay reporting its earnings. However, we intend to do the job right. We and KPMG, our …