Adobe Systems Inc: profit will be 54 cents to 59 cents to share this period

Adobe Systems Inc., the top maker of graphic-design programs, rose in extended trading yesterday after saying first-quarter profit will exceeded analysts’ estimates, lifted by resurgent sales of publishing software.

Excluding some costs, profit will be 54 cents to 59 cents a share in the period ending in February, San Jose, California- based Adobe said yesterday in a statement. Analysts had estimated 51 cents on average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Sales of Creative Suite 5, released in April, are rebounding from a lull earlier in the year. Adobe had cited lackluster back-to-school demand in September when it issued a forecast that trailed analysts’ predictions. Creative Suite, which includes the Photoshop and Illustrator programs, is used by graphic designers, advertising agencies and schools.

“We definitely saw demand improve,” Chief Financial Officer Mark Garrett said in an interview. “We certainly expect that to continue.”

Adobe rose $1.54, or 5.3 percent, to $30.72 in extended trading. The shares are down 21 percent this year through yesterday’s Nasdaq Stock Market close.

The company targeted first-quarter revenue of $1 billion to $1.05 billion. Analysts had predicted $991.9 million.

Creative Suite, which accounts for most of Adobe’s sales, provides a surge of growth whenever a new version comes out. The company is counting on the latest iteration to perform better than CS4, which debuted in September 2008. At the time, the financial crisis was deepening and corporations reined in technology spending.

Adobe’s digital enterprise services also are helping spur growth and lessen its reliance on Creative Suite, said Patrick Walravens, an analyst at JMP Securities LLC in San Francisco. That business helps manage correspondence with customers and offers technology for reviewing and sharing documents.

“We’re definitely seeing this fast-growing trend for both enterprises and governments to invest,” Chief Executive Officer Shantanu Narayen said on a conference call.

In the fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 3, Adobe earned 56 cents a share, topping the 52-cent estimate. Sales rose 33 percent to $1.01 billion, the first time the company topped $1 billion in quarterly revenue. Analysts projected $988.3 million.

Net income was $268.9 million, or 53 cents a share, compared with a loss of $32 million, or 6 cents, a year earlier.

Earlier this month, Citigroup Inc.’s Walter Pritchard estimated that 30 percent to 40 percent of Creative Suite customers had bought version 5. Larger companies may have been waiting to upgrade, the San Francisco-based analyst said in a report at the time.

Adobe’s rosy forecast caps a tumultuous year for the company, which clashed with Apple Inc.’s Steve Jobs and later spurred speculation that it may be acquired by Microsoft Corp.

Jobs, Apple’s CEO, banned Adobe’s Flash video software from his company’s iPhone and iPad, saying it wasn’t well suited to mobile devices. Adobe then won a partial victory on Sept. 9, when Apple eased restrictions on creating applications for its products.

Adobe is releasing a product called Flex Mobile that will work around the restrictions imposed by Apple, said Walravens, who has a “market outperform” rating on Adobe’s stock. It lets developers make software for Apple’s mobile devices, as well as those using Google Inc.’s Android operating system.

Apple’s ban hasn’t affected Adobe’s sales, Narayen said yesterday.

The company faces a fresh challenge on Jan. 6, when Apple plans to open an online storefront for Mac software. That would give Apple a direct channel to customers -- unlike Adobe and Microsoft, which rely more on consultants, retailers and Internet merchants to sell their software.

Adobe’s stock surged in October after a report that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had met with Narayen to discuss closer collaboration between the companies. The stock gave up much of the gains the next day, after the meeting was described as routine.