LITTLE ROCK — Acxiom Corp. on Wednesday said it made a profit of $12.7 million for its fiscal second quarter, up more than 34 percent from $9.4 million in the year-earlier period.
Revenue at the Little Rock-based company, an interactive marketing services provider, was $291.7 million for the fiscal 2011 quarter ending Sept. 30, up 7.6 percent from $271.1 million in the corresponding period last year.
“We had a solid quarter across all financial results,” Acxiom Chief Executive John Meyer said in a conference call with analysts.In a release, Meyer said the company “invested in several projects that should provide for continued future growth.”
Earnings per share were 16 cents, compared with 12 cents a year earlier. The earnings per share matched analysts’ predictions, according to Zacks Investment Research figures.
As regards retail clients, Meyer said in the conference call that Acxiom entered a multiyear partner-ship with Dress Barn and also expanded its relationship with Pep Boys. In financial services, Acxiom “had our largest contract renewal ever” from an unspecified long-term client, he said.
Meyer said clients continue to shift their marketing efforts from traditional formats to online delivery. In the quarter, the company released a new product, AbiliTec Digital, which allows marketers to link their demographic data to cell- and home-phone numbers and e-mail addresses. An earlier AbiliTec product was focused on postal addresses.
Daniel Leben, an analyst for Robert W. Baird & Co., wrote in a note to investors Wednesday that Acxiom reported 3 percent more revenue than he expected, butalso higher expenses than foreseen.
Leben has a target price on Acxiom of $16.
Shares of Acxiom on Wednesday closed at $17.38 on the Nasdaq stock exchange, down 61 cents, or 3.4percent.
In the second quarter, income from operations was up almost 29 percent, to $27.3 million, from a year earlier. Total operating expenses rose almost 6 percent, to $264.4 million.
Selling, general and administrative costs were up 6 percent to $40.3 million. Costs were up in the United States “mostly due to an increase in incentive compensation,” said Chief Financial Officer Christopher Wolf, in the analyst call.
While company officials in the conference call touted domestic performance, they noted that Acxiom is experiencing some weakness in Europe, such as in sales in Germany and the Netherlands.
The company has reduced debt by about $19 million since March 31, to about $482 million, officials said in the conference call.
Business, Pages 21 on 10/28/2010