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Autodesk Swings To 1Q Loss, Cuts 430 Jobs In Latest Layoffs

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) swung to a fiscal first-quarter loss and said it would eliminate 430 jobs, as the company reported that the global economic downturn affected its businesses on almost every front.

Still, its shares rose 19% to $22.34 in after-hours trading as earnings excluding items topped the company's forecast and Autodesk issued a relatively rosy view for the current quarter. The stock has lost about half of its value from September, but is rebounding from under $12 in March, the lowest Autodesk traded since 2003.

The design-software maker, which already has initiated two rounds of layoffs this year, said the latest one would be offset somewhat by the hiring of about 100 positions in "select areas." Autodesk has about 7,500 employees.

The company anticipates pre-tax restructuring charges of about $33 million to $40 million, with a bulk of the charges taken in the fiscal second quarter.

Autodesk also forecast earnings for the period of 15 cents a share to 20 cents on revenue of $395 million to $420 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected 14 cents and $413 million, respectively.

The maker of the AutoCAD software widely used by engineers and architects reported a fiscal first-quarter loss of $32.1 million, or 14 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $94.6 million, or 41 cents a share.

Excluding items, earnings for the quarter ended April 30 fell to 18 cents a share from 50 cents.

Revenue dropped 15% to $425.8 million.

In February, Autodesk expected earnings of break-even to 12 cents a share on revenue of $400 million to $440 million, below analysts' estimates at the time.

License revenue slumped 44%, while maintenance revenue climbed 9.4%. Combined revenue from Autodesk's model-based 3D design solutions dropped 16% and accounted for 29% of total revenue.

-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5285; john.kell@dowjones.com

Corrected May 22, 200910:38 ET (14:38 GMT)

Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) swung to a fiscal first-quarter loss and said it would eliminate 430 jobs, as the company reported that the global economic downturn affected its businesses on almost every front.

("Audodesk Swings To 1Q Loss, Cuts 430 Jobs In Latest Layoffs," published at 4:57 p.m. EDT Thursday, misspelled the company's name in the headline.)

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  05-21-091657ET
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