Amdocs reports stronger than expected results

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The business support systems company predicts even higher revenue and earnings per share for the third fiscal quarter.

Business supports systems company Amdocs Ltd. (NYSE: DOX) beat analysts' forecasts and reported revenue of $789 million for the second fiscal quarter of 2011, compared with $744.0 million in the corresponding quarter of 2010. The analysts' consensus was revenue of $782 million. These latest revenue figures reflect a 1.8% rise over the previous quarter and a 6% rise over the corresponding quarter.

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Amdocs reported net income on a non-GAAP basis of $110.3 million ($0.58 per share), compared with $116.9 million ($0.56 per share) in the corresponding period. This beat the analysts' forecast of $0.57 per share.

Amdocs also predicted revenue of $790-805 million in the third quarter compared with the analysts' forecast of $790.84 million. Earnings per share on a non-GAAP basis for the third quarter is expected to be $0.57-$0.63, excluding acquisition-related costs and about $0.04-$0.05 per share of equity-based compensation expense, net of related tax effects. The analysts expect earnings of $0.59 per share for the third quarter.

Amdocs CEO Eli Gelman said, "Our performance in the second fiscal quarter of 2011 benefitted from solid demand trends. Managed services contributed strong revenue in the second fiscal quarter fueled primarily by our North American clients. Deal momentum in the emerging markets remained healthy, and the demand environment in Europe showed signs of improvement throughout the first half of fiscal 2011 relative to a year ago. In terms of profitability, we continued to make progress on our current investment initiatives which resulted in a sequential improvement in our non-GAAP operating margin within our projected range."

He added, "Factoring in recent business trends and our expectations for the third fiscal quarter, we now expect revenue growth toward the upper-end of our 4-6% guidance range for fiscal 2011. As we continue to make progress in meeting key delivery milestones on several of our market-leading implementations and in achieving the benefits from investments in our employee knowledge programs, we anticipate a modest improvement in profitability in the second half of fiscal 2011."

Amdocs's share price closed at $30.39 on the NYSE on Thursday, giving a market cap of $5.78 billion. The share price rose a further 2.67% to $31.20 in after-hours trading.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 29, 2011