Autodesk Reports Income Increased 68%

Autodesk Inc. said Thursday its second-quarter net income surged 68%, better than Wall Street expected, on strong sales of a new version of its computer-aided drafting software products. The San Rafael company said 60,000 new customers and about 5% of its existing customers bought the new AutoCAD Release 14 product. Sales of the company’s specialized drafting products, particularly for map makers, also were strong, executives said. Autodesk, the fifth-largest personal computer software company in the world, said it had net income of $17.8 million, or 34 cents a share, compared with $10.6 million, or 22 cents a share, in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue for the quarter ended July 31 jumped 19% to $154.1 million from $128.7 million. Analysts had expected Autodesk to earn 31 cents a share, according to a recent survey by Zacks Investment Research. Engineers and architects use AutoCAD to design the framework of machines and buildings on a personal computer.