Irvine-based chipmaker Broadcom Corp. reported a big drop in fourth-quarter profits on costs from its recently ended options probe, while profits before charges were off slightly from a year earlier.
The company said Thursday its quarterly net income was $45.1 million, down from $110.2 million a year earlier. The results include a $50 million charge for related to stock options.
Broadcom wrapped an internal investigation last month, saying it would revise financial statements for 1998 to 2005 with charges of $2.2 billion for stock option grants that were improperly accounted for.
Excluding charges, Broadcom said it earned $185 million, down 6% from a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter rose 12.5% to $923.5 million.
Shares of Broadcom were flat in afterhours trading.
The company also said it plans to buy back $1 billion worth of its shares starting next week. Broadcom plans to use some of $2.8 billion in cash to fund the buyback.
