Thursday, MSCI Inc. (MXB), a provider of investment decision support tools, reported a rise in second-quarter profit, reflecting primarily higher revenues and lower operating expenses.
The New York-based company's net income for the quarter increased to $19.62 million or $0.19 per share from $18.63 million or $0.18 per share in the previous year. On average, 7 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.24 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Operating revenues increased 1.1% to $109.37 million from $108.19 million in the same quarter last year. Five analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $104.91 million for the quarter.
The company recorded a 4.7% growth in subscription revenues to $94.2 million, partially offset by a 16.9% decrease in equity index asset based fees. Revenues related to Equity Indices increased 4% to $62.5 million from the prior year. Revenues from equity index subscriptions were $47.3 million, up 13.1% over the previous year.
Revenues from Equity Portfolio Analytics products decreased 6.8% to $31.6 million due to lower levels of new subscriptions and lower retention rates in recent quarters. Revenues related to Multi-Asset Class Portfolio Analytics increased 11.3% to $9.6 million from the earlier year and revenues from Other Products increased 2.4% to $5.7 million, the company noted.
Total operating expenses decreased to $72.72 million from $75.29 million in the earlier year. The company said that the decrease of $2.6 million reflects declines of $7 million in non-compensation expense and $0.7 million in amortization of intangibles, offset by increases of $2.7 million in compensation expense and $2.5 million in depreciation expense. Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased 10.4% to $34.05 million from $38 million in the preceding year.
For the six-month period, MSCI posted net income of $36.34 million, compared to net income of $36.56 million in the preceding year. Earnings per share remained flat with last year at $0.36.
Operating revenues for the half year increased to $215.29 million from $213.15 million in the prior year.
Henry Fernandez, chairman and chief executive officer commented, "Despite the near-term challenges, we remain enthusiastic about the growth opportunities in front of us and are accelerating our investment in the business by adding resources globally."
MXB is currently trading at $24.36, up $0.29 or 1.2% on the NYSE.
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