Despite the continued growth, shares in the Dallas, Texas-based company fell 3% in early trading Friday as it gave guidance for the current quarter which fell short of analyst expectations.
For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004, it made a net profit of $96.5m, up 15% on the year-ago figure, on revenue up 5% at $1.06bn. For the full year, it made a net profit of $536.1m, up 75% on the previous year, on revenue up 8% at $4.11bn. The company’s figures were boosted by acquisitions made during the year, and the acceleration of revenue as a result of the termination of its contract with PC vendor Gateway.
Its revenue expectations for fiscal 2005 remain unchanged from the estimate of $4.475bn to $4.575bn it gave in April, but it increased its earnings per share guidance to between $3.08 and $3.16. For its first quarter it expects sales to decrease sequentially to between $1.03bn and $1.04bn, as revenue which it had expected in the quarter was recognized earlier, boosting its fourth-quarter total.
The company’s new signings were its second largest in its history, totaling $182m in annualized revenue. CEO Jeff Rich described the quarter’s results as superb.
Our new business wins were very strong in the fourth quarter, internal revenue growth was excellent and our sales pipelines are robust, he said.
