CA’s Shares Fall After Company Lowers 2013 Sales Forecast

CA Inc. (CA), a maker of software for managing information technology, fell the most in three years after cutting its 2013 forecast, citing lower-than-expected sales of new products amid a weaker global economy.

CA tumbled 8.7 percent to $22.73 at the close in New York, the biggest decline since October 2009. The shares have climbed 12 percent this year.

The company now sees a 1 percent to 3 percent decline in full-year fiscal revenue when adjusting for currency fluctuations, down from a prior estimate of 1 percent to 2 percent growth, according to a statement yesterday. CA cited a 14 percent decline in second-quarter bookings due to lower sales in its enterprise solutions unit and lower mainframe capacity revenue. The company’s fiscal year ends in March.

“New product and capacity sales were down approximately 25 percent,” Bill McCracken, chief executive officer of the Islandia, New York-based company, said yesterday on an analyst call. Because of the sluggish economy, “we saw sales cycles elongate and deals slip out of the quarter.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Niamh Ring in New York at nring@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net