Singapore, Dec 16: Computer Associates International Inc (CA), the world's third largest independent software company, said on Tuesday it was doing well in Asia, with revenue growth for 1997 seen at 25 per cent.

Despite the region's financial crisis, it expected similar growth in 1998, a company official said.

"I have a 25-per cent (revenue growth) target for Asia," ChuaTock-Ling, CA's senior vice-president and general manager for Asia told Reuters in a tele-conference interview from China.

Chua said he saw revenue from Asia rising 25 per cent this year as well as in 1998 and the region contributed about 10 per cent of CA's worldwide turnover.

Even in countries like Japan, CA expected to chalk up an increase of 25 per cent in sales this year, he said.

"As far as software for enterprise management is concerned, the growth rate is still strong. ``We're not seeing any slowdown," Chua said with regard to Japan.

Japan, which is about 40 per cent of CA's Asian market, had many conglomerates which were potential customers, he said.

Besides database software, CA's business has increasingly come from software that help companies manage large networks across multiple platforms.

"I don't think the financial shakeout in Japan means IT (information technology) expenditure will be cut substantially," Chua said.

He added that companies would need to look for productivity tools in response to the regional crisis and this could translate into more IT investments.

Chua said his personal target for Japan was for sales to jump 25 to 50 per cent in 1998. Part of the optimism was because CA had started from a relatively small base there, he said.

For most parts of Asia, business was humming along, Chua said: "We haven't seen any major cutbacks in (network) infrastructure spending", especially in the key banking, transportation and telecommunications industries.

"We have to separate the perception of crisis from what goes on in everyday life.''

``Banks still have to remain open, airlines have to fly and systems have to be upgraded," Chua said.

He said CA was doing particularly well in China-related markets, where he was eyeing sales growth of 50 to 70 per cent in mainland China and Taiwan this year and next.

"There is no slowdown at all. In China, particularly, we are seeing so many projects in the pipeline," he said.

On South Korea, where CA licensed its products in won, there was strong growth in the last three quarters.

But because the won had lost a large chunk of its value against the US currency, sales would be somewhat hurt, Chua said.

"The situation in Korea right now is worrisome with the free fall of the won ... a lot of the big conglomerates sort of tailspin," he said.

Chua said it was difficult to predict performance in the January to March quarter in South Korea.

"The situation in Korea is unstable," he said.

As for new initiatives, CA was exploring joint ventures for software development and to set up training centres in the region, he said.

For its second quarter ended September 30, 1997, Computer Associates exceeded Wall Street's expectations with a net profit of $271.88 million on revenues of $1.12 billion.

For the first six months, Computer Associate's net profit hit $427.65 million on revenues of $2.01 billion.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.