Check Point Software Q3 profit, revenue up

TEL AVIV, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Internet and network security provider Check Point Software Technologies reported higher quarterly profit that slightly topped expectations on higher sales of its software blades and appliances.

The Israeli company earned 85 cents a share excluding one-time items in the third quarter, up from 79 cents a year earlier. Revenue grew 4 percent to $344.1 million, the company said on Monday.

Check Point was forecast to have earned 84 cents a share on revenue of $343.6 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The results were at the high end of the company's projections, Chief Executive Officer Gil Shwed said.

"The recently launched data centre and small appliance families were received enthusiastically by our customers," he said.

During the first quarter of 2013, Check Point launched a new software blade - modular software building blocks that are bought on an annual subscription basis - that stops unwanted malware, or malicious software.

It also introduced a software blade for security and compliance monitoring.