Open Text revenue hit by strong US dollar, weak emerging markets

By Shubhankar Chakravorty (Reuters) - Canadian business-software maker Open Text Corp's quarterly revenue fell short of market expectations, hit by a strong U.S. dollar and weaker-than-expected revenue from its emerging markets business. U.S.-listed shares of Open Text, whose software helps companies manage documents and workflows, fell 11 percent in extended trading on Tuesday. Revenue from markets including the Middle East, Latin America, China and India was "lower than planned," Chief Financial Officer John Doolittle said on a call with analysts. Total revenue rose 29 percent to $467.8 million in the second quarter ended Dec. 31, but fell short of the average analyst estimate of $486.7 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The company, which gets about half its revenue in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, said revenue in the quarter was hit by a foreign exchange charge of $15 million. "We can expect the (currency) volatility to continue," Chief Executive Mark Barrenechea told Reuters. However, net profit rose 39 percent from a year earlier, helped by a more-than threefold jump in revenue in the company's rapidly growing cloud services business. Net income attributable to the company rose to $74.3 million, or 60 cents per share, from $53.5 million, or 45 cents per share. The company, which has been counting on demand for its cheaper, nimbler cloud-based software to drive growth, recently bought U.S.-based software provider Actuate Corp for $330 million to boost its cloud services. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company's shares closed at C$73.92 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, while its Nasdaq-listed shares closed at $59.59. Open Text, which counts Coca-Cola Co , Nestlé SA and Germany's SAP SE among its customers, has a market value of $9 billion. (Reporting By Shubhankar Chakravorty in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Ted Kerr)