June 14 (Bloomberg) -- Adobe Systems Inc., the biggest maker of design software, said second-quarter profit climbed 24 percent on demand for updated versions of its Creative Suite products. The shares fell after its forecast disappointed some investors.

Net income rose to $152.5 million, or 25 cents a share, from $123.1 million, or 20 cents, a year earlier, San Jose, California-based Adobe said today in a statement. Sales for the period ended June 1 rose 17 percent to $745.6 million.

Adobe benefited from pent-up demand for Creative Suite 3, which combines Adobe's Photoshop, Dreamweaver and other programs. The software, used by professional photographers, Web designers and print publishers, went on sale at the end of March. Adobe's forecast today for the current quarter didn't reflect as big a bump in sales and profit as some analysts had expected.

``It's a classic example of the Street always wanting more,'' Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray, said in an interview from San Francisco. He rates the shares ``outperform'' and said he doesn't own any.

For the current quarter, Adobe said it expects profit, excluding some costs, of 39 cents to 41 cents a share. It forecast sales of $760 million to $800 million. That compares with analysts' estimates of 39 cents in profit and $782.7 million in sales, according to a survey by Bloomberg.

Shares Drop

Shares of Adobe fell as much as 3.4 percent to $42.53 in extended trading after the report. They dropped 15 cents to $43.96 at 4 p.m. in regular Nasdaq Stock Market trading. They have advanced 6.9 percent this year.

Adobe's forecast reflects the slower summer season, Chief Executive Officer Bruce Chizen said in an interview. Vacations, especially in Europe, may keep some businesses from upgrading to Adobe's new software as quickly.

``Because of that, and because we don't know the adoption curve of the products, we put out a range that we felt comfortable with,'' he said.

Excluding some costs, profit last quarter was 37 cents, beating the 35-cent average estimate of 20 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

``This is a very good quarter,'' Sasa Zorovic, an analyst at Goldman, Sachs & Co., said in an interview from New York. He rates the company ``buy'' and doesn't own any shares. ``Their guidance perhaps could have gone higher, but they do a very good job of reining in expectations.''

Creative Software

Sales in Adobe's creative-software business rose 21 percent to $436.6 million, representing 58 percent of second-quarter revenue. Sales of the company's knowledge-worker software, which includes its Acrobat PDF program, rose 15 percent to $184.8 million, accounting for 25 percent of revenue.

Adobe said in March it expects to begin selling foreign- language versions of its Creative Suite products in Europe and Asia later this quarter.

Chizen has called Creative Suite 3 the biggest release in Adobe's 25-year history.

``The sales cycle hasn't fully started yet,'' Munster said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rochelle Garner in San Francisco at rgarner4@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 14, 2007 19:28 EDT