Symantec Announces CEO Transition

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Michael Brown Appointed Interim CEO, Replacing Steve Bennett

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Mar.20, 2014 — /BackupReview.info/ — Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) today announced that its board of directors has appointed board member Michael Brown as interim president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. This appointment follows the termination of Steve Bennett as the company’s president and chief executive officer and his resignation from Symantec’s board of directors. A special committee of the board will immediately begin the search for a permanent CEO with the assistance of a leading executive search firm.

On behalf of Symantec’s board, chairman Daniel Schulman said, “We recognize Steve’s contributions to Symantec, including developing and leading a series of successful initiatives focused on organizational realignment, cost reduction and process effectiveness. These changes have helped establish a solid foundation for Symantec’s future, and we remain committed to our previously announced greater-than 5% organic revenue growth and better-than 30% non-GAAP operating margin targets by FY17. Our priority is now to identify a leader who can leverage our company’s assets and leadership team to drive the next stage of Symantec’s product innovation and growth. This considered decision was the result of an ongoing deliberative process, and not precipitated by any event or impropriety.

Mr. Brown joined Symantec’s board of directors following the company’s merger with VERITAS Software in July 2005, and previously served as chairman and chief executive officer of Quantum Corporation. Under his leadership, Quantum grew from $3 billion to $6 billion in revenues and held market leadership positions in data back-up and archiving solutions. More recently, Mr. Brown has been a board chairman and chief executive officer coach for several successful technology companies prior to their acquisitions, including EqualLogic, Line 6 and The Echo Nest. In addition to his deep expertise in growing businesses, Mr. Brown has extensive experience in leading and developing executive management teams.

Mr. Brown said, “With recent key hires, we have a leadership team in place that is capable of accelerating our growth and I look forward to working closely with them to help execute the next phase of the company’s transformation plan. The need for protecting and managing your information has never been stronger, and we must act aggressively to capture a growing share of this market. By concentrating on product innovation and growth initiatives, we aim to leverage Symantec’s tremendous assets across both consumer and enterprise applications to enhance our position as a market leader.”

As interim president and chief executive officer, Mr. Brown will work with Symantec’s executive team to facilitate an orderly leadership transition while overseeing the company’s ongoing transformation. Mr. Brown will remain on Symantec’s board, but will no longer serve on its Compensation and Leadership Development Committee or Nominating and Governance Committee. Board member Robert S. Miller will replace Mr. Brown as the chair of the Compensation and Leadership Development Committee.

Business Outlook
Symantec also today reiterated its guidance for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, which was previously provided on January 29, 2014. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, we expect:

• Revenue of $1.615 to $1.655 billion, compared to $1.748 billion in the year-ago period.
• GAAP operating margin of 18.0 to 19.5 percent compared to 14.6 percent in the year-ago period.
• Non-GAAP operating margin of 24.5 to 26.0 percent compared to 24.1 percent in the year ago period.
• GAAP diluted earnings per share between $0.29 and $0.31 as compared to $0.27 in the year-ago period.
• Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share between $0.40 and $0.42 as compared to $0.44 in the year-ago period.

About Symantec
Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) is an information protection expert that helps people, businesses and governments seeking the freedom to unlock the opportunities technology brings — anytime, anywhere. Founded in April 1982, Symantec, a Fortune 500 company, operating one of the largest global data-intelligence networks, has provided leading security, backup and availability solutions for where vital information is stored, accessed and shared. The company’s more than 20,000 employees reside in more than 50 countries. Ninety-nine percent of Fortune 500 companies are Symantec customers. In fiscal 2013, it recorded revenues of $6.9 billion. To learn more go to www.symantec.com or connect with Symantec at: go.symantec.com/socialmedia.

Note to Editors: If you would like additional information on Symantec Corporation and its products, please visit the Symantec News Room at http://www.symantec.com/news. All prices noted are in U.S. dollars and are valid only in the United States.

Symantec and the Symantec Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Forward-looking Statements: This press release contains statements regarding our financial and business results, which may be considered forward-looking within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws, including projections of future revenue, operating margin and earnings per share, as well as projections of amortization of acquisition-related intangibles and stock-based compensation and restructuring charges. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from results expressed or implied in this press release. Such risk factors include those related to: general economic conditions; maintaining customer and partner relationships; the anticipated growth of certain market segments, particularly with regard to security and storage; the competitive environment in the software industry; changes to operating systems and product strategy by vendors of operating systems; fluctuations in currency exchange rates; the timing and market acceptance of new product releases and upgrades; the successful development of new products and integration of acquired businesses, and the degree to which these products and businesses gain market acceptance. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements in this press release. We assume no obligation, and do not intend, to update these forward-looking statements as a result of future events or developments. Additional information concerning these and other risks factors is contained in the Risk Factors sections of our Form 10-K for the year ended March 29, 2013.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information: Our results of operations have undergone significant change due to a series of acquisitions, the impact of stock-based compensation, impairment charges and other corporate events. To help our readers understand our past financial performance and our future results, we supplement the financial results that we provide in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, with non-GAAP financial measures. The method we use to produce non-GAAP results is not computed according to GAAP and may differ from the methods used by other companies. Our non-GAAP results are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures and should be read only in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Our management regularly uses our supplemental non-GAAP financial measures internally to understand, manage and evaluate our business and make operating decisions. These non-GAAP measures are among the primary factors management uses in planning for and forecasting future periods. Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation of our non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP results, which is attached to our quarterly earnings release and which can be found, along with other financial information, on the investor relations’ page of our website at www.symantec.com/invest.

Media Contacts
Deirdre Sena, Symantec,
+1 (424) 750-8470
deirdre_sena@symantec.com

Gerritt Hoekman, Edelman PR,
+1 (323) 202-1895
gerritt.hoekman@edelman.com

Address
World Headquarters
Symantec
350 Ellis Street
Mountain View, CA
USA, 94043

Source: Symantec

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