RSA shares not so secure

NEWS Shares in RSA Security closed 19 per cent down yesterday after the company said it expects a $14m to $16m loss for the first quarter 2002 on the back of weaker than expected user spend. Per share loss for the quarter will be between 24 and 28 cents, on revenues of $56m, compared with a profit of $8.8m or 14 cents a share in the same quarter last year on revenues of $73.6m. The company blamed the loss on lower than expected IT spending for the quarter. It said it also expected a $5 to $7m loss from its core business which excludes its RSA Capital division. In the same period last year its core security business posted a profit of $9.6m or 16 cents per share. In Europe RSA shares continued the slump today, down 20 per cent in early trading. RSA reports its first quarter results on 11 April.