Acxiom earnings down 34%

But data broker’s second-quarter results beat forecast

Information about Acxiom's second quarter finances
Information about Acxiom's second quarter finances

Acxiom Corp. on Monday reported a 34 percent decline in profit for its fiscal 2017 second quarter.

The Little Rock company posted a profit of $7.1 million for the second quarter, down from $10.7 million during the same period a year ago.

Earnings per share was 9 cents for the period ending Sept. 30, compared with 14 cents per share during the second quarter last year.

"Solid second quarter performance was driven by continued strong global execution across each of our businesses," Scott Howe, chief executive officer of Acxiom, said in a statement.

Acxiom shares rose $1.77, or 7.8 percent, to close Monday at $24.49 on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York. The company released its second-quarter financial results after markets closed.

Brett Huff, an analyst with Stephens Inc., said before the earnings were released that he expected zero cents per share for the second quarter.

Acxiom announced during the quarter that the company would sell its email-services business to Zeta Interactive, a data-marketing firm, for $22 million.

Huff said in a recent research note that he expected the sale of Acxiom's email business would decrease revenue for the quarter and year, but have a "non-material impact on profitability."

"We think the earlier-than-expected sale is a positive given it was weighing on the [company's] top and bottom lines," Huff wrote.

Acxiom reported revenue of $217.3 million in the second quarter, up 4.8 percent from a year ago.

Acxiom, as a data broker, collects information about consumers from public records, shopping habits and other sources to help clients create targeted marketing campaigns.

In 2014, Acxiom acquired marketing-services company LiveRamp to help in the collection of offline data for marketing applications.

During the second quarter, LiveRamp introduced IdentityLink, a service that helps brands create a "unified view of the consumer."

Acxiom said it also entered into a partnership with Adobe, the software company, to allow clients easier access to Acxiom data from Adobe's Audience Marketplace service.

Acxiom spent about $10 million during the quarter to buy back 390,000 shares. The company said it used some of the proceeds from the sale of its business operations to fund the purchases.

Business on 11/08/2016

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