Autodesk raises full-year revenue forecast on strong subscription growth

(Reuters) - Autodesk Inc raised its full-year revenue forecast and reported better-than-expected second-quarter revenue, as more companies and individuals sign up for its computer-aided design software.

Shares of the company were up about 5 percent in after-market trade.

Autodesk, which is moving to a cloud-based subscription model from a license-based business, forecast revenue growth of 7-9 percent, or $2.43-$2.48 billion, for the year ending January 31, 2015, up from its prior forecast of 4-6 percent growth.

Analysts were expecting full-year revenue of $2.40 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Autodesk's flagship AutoCAD software is used by construction, engineering and manufacturing companies to design and simulate real-world performance of their products.

The company said it expects to add 200,000-250,000 net subscribers on a net basis this year, up from its earlier forecast of 150,000-200,000 net additions.

Between May and July, Autodesk added about 74,000 subscribers, ending the quarter with about 2 million total subscribers.

"Our strong results and positive view of the macroeconomic environment led us to raise our outlook for billings, revenue, and subscription additions for fiscal 2015," Chief Executive Carl Bass said.

The company forecast current-quarter adjusted profit of 17-23 cents per share on revenue of $590-$605 million.

Analysts were expecting an adjusted profit of 28 cents per share on revenue of $588.2 million.

Net income in the second quarter ended July 31 fell to $31.3 million, or 13 cents per share, from $61.7 million, or 27 cents per share, a year ago, as development and marketing expenses rose about 22 percent.

Excluding items, the company earned 35 cents per share, above analysts' average expectation of 29 cents per share.

Revenue rose 13 percent to $637.1 million. Analysts had expected revenue of $603.4 million.

Subscription revenue rose 15 percent.

The Autodesk stock, which has gained about 12 percent this year, closed at $56.28 on the Nasdaq on Thursday.

(Reporting by Soham Chatterjee in Bangalore; Editing by Feroze Jamal)