Monday, Equifax Inc. (EFX), a provider of information solutions for businesses and consumers, said its second quarter profit increased from last year, helped by higher revenue.
Net income for the second quarter was $70.8 million or $0.54 per share, up from $70.1 million or $0.51 per share in the prior year quarter.
Excluding acquisition-related amortization expense, net income would have been $84.4 million or $0.64 per share, compared to $79.2 million or $0.57 per share in the year-ago quarter. On average, six analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial expected the company to earn $0.62 per share for the second quarter.
The company's operating revenue increased to $501.9 million, up 10% from $454.5 million in the same quarter last year.
Operating income was $127.7 million, a 7% increase from the same period of 2007. Operating margin was 25.4% compared to 26.4% in the second quarter of 2007. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding the impact of acquisition-related amortization expense, operating margin was 29.8% in the second quarter of 2008 compared to 29.6% in the year ago quarter.
During the second quarter, Equifax repurchased 1.1 million of its common shares on the open market for $44.1 million, with a remaining authorization of $232.8 million at June 30, 2008 for future repurchases.
For the first half of 2008, net income was $136.5 million or $1.04 per share, down from $139.1 million or $1.05 per share in the year-ago period. Excluding acquisition-related amortization expense, net income would have been $163.7 million or $1.24 per share, compared to $153.0 million or $1.15 per share in the previous year period.
Operating revenue for the year-to-date period increased to $1.01 billion from $859.7 million in the preceding year period.
EFX closed Monday's regular trading session at $35.30, up 28 cents. However, in the after-hours, the shares lost 8 cents.
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