UPDATE 1-Compuware 4th-quarter net profit falls

(Adds details from earnings report throughout)

SAN FRANCISCO, May 15 (Reuters) - Business software and services company Compuware Corp (CPWR.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a lower quarterly net profit on Thursday compared with a year earlier, when it benefited from higher interest income, a tax benefit and the sale of an investment.

Compuware said net income for its fourth fiscal quarter ended March 31 was $61.2 million, or 23 cents per share, compared with $67.5 million, or 21 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue was $338.9 million, up 8 percent from $313 million a year earlier, led by a 38 percent rise in software licensing revenue, Compuware said.

The results were in line with a pre-announcement Compuware made in April.

Although Compuware's profit in dollar terms fell, earnings per share rose as the company reduced its outstanding shares and options to 268.7 million from 319.3 million a year earlier.

Income from operations more than doubled, to $68.4 million from $31.7 million a year earlier.

In the same quarter a year earlier, Compuware booked a gain of $11.3 million from the sale of an investment in a partially owned company. It also had about $4 million more in interest income and a tax benefit of $6 million.

Compuware shares fell 1.3 percent to $8.40 in extended trading, after rising 2.4 percent to close at $8.51 in the regular Nasdaq session. (Reporting by Scott Hillis; Editing by Andre Grenon)