SunGard’s hunger for takeovers is far from sated, and it said it is still identifying acquisitions that will complement existing products, and expand its presence. After splashing out $353m last year on nine acquisitions and repayment of acquired debt, it expects to spend a further $370m in the first quarter of the current year on pending and previously completed acquisitions.
In the fourth quarter to December 31, net income rose 46.2% to $95.8m on revenue 21.9% higher at $701.8m. For the year, net income increased 32.3% to $325.6m on revenue that rose 30.8% to $2.59bn.
The big growth area was availability services where the acquisitions of Guardian IT and Comdisco Availability Solutions enabled it to double revenue to $1bn, though without the purchases it would only have shown 7% growth. On the investment support systems side, revenue grew 4% to $1.36bn, though without the acquired business it would have shrunk by 4%.
SunGuard expects earnings per share for the current year, excluding formidable merger costs and other one-time items, to grow between 8% and 12% to a range of $1.24 to $1.29.
Source: Computerwire
