IHS Inc. (IHS), a provider of critical information and insight products, reported Thursday a decline in first-quarter profit, hurt by higher compensation and pension-related expenses. Adjusted earnings increased from last year, reflecting a 17 percent growth in revenues.
The company said it continued to grow its business overall in all three of its operating regions and lifted its revenue outlook for the fiscal ending November 30, 2012.
For the quarter, the Americas segment revenue increased 15 percent, Europe, the Middle East and Africa or EMEA segment grew its first quarter revenue by 18 percent and Asia-Pacific or APAC segment's revenue was up 24 percent from last year.
Jerre Stead, chairman and chief executive officer of the company said, "The first quarter marked significant continued investment in and implementation of many of the scalable platforms we have been building over the last few years. We are making great progress with these important investments which will help us deliver profitable growth for many years to come."
In a separate release, IHS said it has acquired IMS Research, an independent provider of market research and consultancy to the global electronics industry, for about $46 million.
In the first quarter, the company's net income declined to $23.48 million or $0.35 per share from $31.94 million or $0.49 per share reported last year. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share rose to $0.77 from $0.74 in the same quarter last year.
On average, 10 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.81 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Total revenues for the quarter grew 17 percent to $342.74 million from $293.14 million a year ago, which was below analysts' estimate of $356.68 million.
The company said the increase in revenue was driven by 4 percent organic growth and 14 percent acquisitive growth, with minimal foreign currency movements. Subscription-based business grew 8 percent organically and represented 80 percent of total revenue.
Total operating expenses advanced to $307.68 million from $251.22 million in the preceding year.
For the year ending November 30, 2012, IHS still expects adjusted earnings per share to be between $3.84 and $4.01.
All-in revenue is anticipated in a range of $1.525 billion to $1.575 billion, including an organic growth rate to be between 7 to 10 percent. Earlier, the company expected all-in revenue in a range of $1.50 billion to $1.55 billion. Analysts expect the company to earn $3.97 per share, on revenues of $1.54 billion.
IHS closed Wednesday's regular trading at $97.65 on the NYSE.
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