LONDON (ShareCast) - Security software giant Symantec was one of the best performing US stocks Thursday after net income for the three months to March 31 tripled, helped by strong sales outside the US.

Symantec, best known for its Norton antivirus and other security software products for homes and businesses, saw net income for the period rise to $186m, compared with $61m the same period a year ago. Revenue rose 13% to $1.54bn.

"Our team executed very well across the board and made significant progress in selling the broader portfolio of products and services to customers," Symantec chief executive and chairman John Thompson said.

The company is the leader in the computer security software field, but has recently been losing market share to smaller US rival McAfee in the corporate arena, while in Europe it faces strong competition from Sophos and Kaspersky. Free anti-virus offerings from Grisoft and Avast also pose a threat to its consumer business.

"With the strongest product portfolio we've had in years and a solid pipeline, we are well positioned for a strong start and continued success in fiscal year 2009," the company claimed.

Non-US revenues jumped 15% between the two periods to make up 53% of total sales, with Europe, the Middle East and Africa accounting for most of this.

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