Equifax Raises 2015 Guidance as Profit Climbs 27%
22 Oktober 2015 - 12:00AM
Dow Jones News
Equifax Inc. raised its 2015 outlook as the consumer-credit
reporting agency reported its third-quarter earnings rose 27%.
Shares rose 3.4% to $109.50 in recent after-hours trading as
per-share earnings, excluding certain items, beat expectations.
For the year, the company raised its per-share earnings estimate
to $4.46 to $4.48 and revenue of $2.652 billion to $2.662 billion,
from its previous estimate for per-share profit of $4.38 to $4.42
on revenue of $2.645 billion to $2.67 billion.
Equifax—one of three major U.S. credit-reporting companies,
along with rivals TransUnion Corp. and Experian—traditionally made
its living by compiling credit information on individuals and
selling it to lenders for things such as deciding whether to
approve applications for mortgages, car loans, credit cards and
other borrowings. However, the Atlanta company has been expanding
into areas such as credit-card marketing, fraud detection and
credit-risk consulting through acquisitions and partnerships.
Over all, Equifax reported a profit of $117.9 million, or 98
cents a share, from $92.7 million, or 75 cents a share, a year
earlier. Excluding acquisition-related impacts and other items,
per-share earnings rose to $1.14 from $1.01.
Revenue increased 8.8% to $667.4 million. Excluding currency
impacts, revenue rose 12%.
The company expected per-share profit of $1.08 to $1.11 and
revenue of $655 million to $670 million.
Operating margin rose to 26.1% from 25.1%.
In its U.S. information segment, which includes its consumer
business, revenue rose 12% to $312.3 million. In its international
segment revenue was flat at $148.8 million, but excluding currency
impacts, rose 14%.
For the current quarter, the company forecast per-share earnings
of $1.10 to $1.12 and revenue of $655 million to $665 million.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a per-share profit of
$1.11 and revenue of $668 million.
Equifax is aiming to break into the Australian market with its
sweetened bid for one of the country's biggest credit-reference
providers, Veda Group Ltd., in a deal valued at about 2.5 billion
Australian dollars (US$1.77 billion). Equifax recently secured the
backing of the Sydney company's board with an increased bid of
A$2.825 a share in cash, up from a previous offer of A$2.70 a
share.
The planned acquisition would give Equifax a substantial
foothold in the region as Australia is adopting a comprehensive
credit reporting program that brings it into line with most of the
developed world, including many of the countries where Equifax
already operates.
TransUnion is set to report its third-quarter results on
Tuesday, while Experian plans to release its financial report for
the six months ended in September on Nov. 10.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 21, 2015 17:45 ET (21:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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