Symantec Announces Fifth Consecutive Quarter of Record Earnings

Enterprise Revenue Increased 40%, Consumer Revenue Increased 22%

CUPERTINO, Calif. - Jan. 19, 2000 - Symantec Corporation, (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced record revenues of $201 million for the third fiscal 2000 quarter, an increase of 29 percent over the same quarter a year ago. Strong performance in the consumer market and continued momentum in the enterprise market contributed to the fifth consecutive quarter of record earnings.

Earnings per share before amortisation of goodwill, one-time charges and divestitures was $0.59, representing a 37 percent increase from the same quarter last year. Net income before the amortisation of goodwill, one-time charges and divestitures was $37 million, compared to $25 million the same quarter a year ago.

Earnings per share after the amortisation of goodwill but before one-time charges and divestitures was $0.53, a 29 percent increase from the same quarter last year. Earnings per share after the amortisation of goodwill and after one-time charges of $2.2 million but before divestitures was $0.50.

The divestiture of the ACT! and Visual Café product lines at the end of the quarter resulted in a one-time earnings per share increase of $0.91. As a result, earnings per share after the amortisation of goodwill, one-time charges and including the impact of the divestitures was $1.41 per share.

"The worldwide team at Symantec has worked very hard to deliver outstanding results across the board. Strong retail demand during the busy holiday season, combined with a focused effort on reducing costs, produced very healthy profitability during the third quarter," said John W. Thompson, Symantec chairman, president and CEO. "In addition, for the fifth consecutive quarter, we have seen our enterprise license revenue grow by at least 40 percent year over year, continuing the momentum we've seen in this segment around the world."

Strong Consumer Performance
On a worldwide basis, Symantec's consumer revenue in the third fiscal quarter grew by 22 percent compared to the same period last year. The growth was driven by the shipment of nine new retail products late in the September quarter that led to strong retail demand in the December quarter.

Continuing a focus on the consumer suite strategy in the December quarter, Symantec launched Norton Internet Security, the only product that delivers a comprehensive set of security technologies to address the evolving needs of the consumer market, including a personal firewall combined with virus protection and URL filtering.

Continued Momentum in Enterprise
Enterprise revenue for the third fiscal 2000-quarter grew 40 percent compared to the same period last year and represents 46 percent of Symantec's total revenue.

New worldwide enterprise customers during the quarter included Deutsche Post, KPMG Hong Kong, and the University of Southern California.

During the quarter, Symantec announced the appointment of Phil Solk as vice president responsible for establishing Symantec's global Professional Services organisation to help large companies identify and implement comprehensive security solutions for increasingly complex enterprise environments.

In addition, Symantec announced new enterprise products during the quarter including: Norton Ghost for NetWare 2.0, Speed Disk 5.0 for Windows NT Workstations and Norton AntiVirus for Firewalls 1.5.

Growth in International Markets
In the third fiscal 2000 quarter, international revenue represented 42 percent of total revenue, an increase of 30 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Driven by growth in the company's enterprise license business on a worldwide basis, Symantec's Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region grew by 18 percent. Revenue from the Asia Pacific and Japan regions grew 49 and 57 percent, respectively.

Product Awards
Symantec won more than 60 industry awards during the quarter including:

• Windows Magazine WinList: Norton 2000 Corporate Edition, Norton SystemWorks, Norton AntiVirus, WinFAX Pro
  
  
• Norton Ghost 6.0 received the 1999 Test Centre Recommended Award from Computer Reseller News.
  
  
• Home Office Computing Best Products of the Year: Norton 2000, Norton SystemWorks, TalkWorks Pro, pcANYWHERE
  
  
• PC World Editor's Pick awards: Norton Utilities and Norton AntiVirus
  
  
• CNET Recommends Awards: Norton 2000 and Norton SystemWorks

Conference Call
Symantec has scheduled a conference call for 5 p.m. EST today to discuss fiscal third quarter results. Interested parties may access the conference call on the Internet through Vcall at www.vcall.com. To listen to the live call, please go to the Web site at least 15 minutes early to register, download and install any necessary audio software.

• Consolidated Statements of Income
  
  
• Consolidated Balance Sheets

About Symantec in Canada:
With 250 employees, Symantec's Canadian operations are headquartered in Toronto with offices in Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver. For information on Symantec products or current promotions, contact the Canadian office at (416) 441-3676 or access Symantec's Canadian Web Site. Symantec is an active member of the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft (CAAST).

About Symantec
Symantec, a world leader in Internet security technology, provides content security solutions to enterprise organisations and helps companies manage and support workforces that use computers and other mobile devices.

NOTE TO EDITORS: If you would like additional information on Symantec Corporation and its products, please view the Symantec Press Centre on Symantec's web site. Brands and products referenced herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Brands and products referenced herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.