Deluxe Corporation (DLX) has reported an 1.72 percent fall in profit for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2017. The company has earned $57.10 million, or $1.16 a share in the quarter, compared with $58.10 million, or $1.18 a share for the same period last year. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share were at $1.25 for the quarter compared with $1.19 in the same period last year.
Revenue during the quarter grew 6.21 percent to $487.80 million from $459.30 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 96 basis points over the previous year period to 63.26 percent. Total expenses were 82.47 percent of quarterly revenues, up from 79.84 percent for the same period last year. That has resulted in a contraction of 263 basis points in operating margin to 17.53 percent.
Operating income for the quarter was $85.50 million, compared with $92.60 million in the previous year period.
However, the adjusted operating income for the quarter stood at $92.30 million compared to $93.60 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted operating margin contracted 146 basis points in the quarter to 18.92 percent from 20.38 percent in the last year period.
"We delivered very strong first quarter results to start the year," said Lee Schram, chief executive officer of Deluxe. "Both revenue and adjusted diluted EPS exceeded our expectations and marketing solutions and other services grew 20 percent over the prior year and ended the quarter at over 35 percent of total revenue. We are pleased with early results from recent acquisitions and based on our strong overall performance in the quarter, we are slightly tightening our full year adjusted diluted earnings per share outlook. We continue to expect that we will deliver another strong year of revenue, earnings and operating cash flow growth."
For the second-quarter 2017, Deluxe Corp projects revenue to be in the range of $476 million to $484 million. The company forecasts diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $1.23 to $1.28. On an adjusted basis, the company forecasts diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $1.23 to $1.28.
For financial year 2017, Deluxe Corp projects revenue to be in the range of $1,945 million to $1,975 million. The company forecasts diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $5.06 to $5.21. The company forecasts diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $5.15 to $5.30 on adjusted basis.
Operating cash flow improves marginally Deluxe Corp has generated cash of $74.30 million from operating activities during the quarter, up 2.20 percent or $1.60 million, when compared with the last year period.
The company has spent $15.80 million cash to meet investing activities during the quarter as against cash outgo of $21 million in the last year period.
The company has spent $50 million cash to carry out financing activities during the quarter as against cash outgo of $46.70 million in the last year period.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $85.50 million as on Mar. 31, 2017, up 20.42 percent or $14.50 million from $71 million on Mar. 31, 2016.
Debt moves up
Deluxe Corp has witnessed an increase in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $739.50 million as on Mar. 31, 2017, up 20.24 percent or $124.50 million from $615 million on Mar. 31, 2016. Total debt was 34.20 percent of total assets as on Mar. 31, 2017, compared with 33.56 percent on Mar. 31, 2016. Debt to equity ratio was at 0.81 as on Mar. 31, 2017, up from 0.78 as on Mar. 31, 2016. Interest coverage ratio improved to 17.81 for the quarter from 17.81 for the same period last year. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
