Acxiom Corp. (ACXM) Wednesday reported a sharp decline in fourth-quarter profit, hurt mainly by lower revenues, while the prior year quarter included gains from discontinued operations.
The company expects fiscal year 2014 earnings and revenues to be almost flat. Following the announcement of results, shares of Acxiom lost 4 percent in after-hours trade on the Nasdaq.
Acxiom operates as an enterprise data, analytics and software-as-a-service company.
The Little Rock, Arkansas-based company posted quarterly net earnings to common stock of $13 million or $0.18 per share, compared with $46 million or $0.58 per share last year.
Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $14 million or $0.19 per share, compared with $17 million or $0.22 per share in the prior year.
On average, three analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.16 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Revenues for the quarter fell 3.5 percent to $277 million from $287 million a year ago. Analysts estimated revenues of $279.95 million for the quarter.
Marketing and data services revenue fell 2.9 percent, and IT Infrastructure management services was down 3.5 percent.
For fiscal year 2014, Acxiom estimates earnings and revenues to be almost flat compared with the prior year, when it posted revenues of $1.099 billion. Analysts currently expect earnings of $0.74 per share on revenues of $1.10 billion.
Acxiom's stock closed Wednesday at $21.33, up 0.85%, on a volume of 0.48 million shares. In after hours, the stock slid $0.83 or 3.89%.
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