DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Pitney Bowes Inc.'s (PBI) first-quarter profit rose 8.7% amid
fewer charges while the mail and document-management company's
revenue continued to decline and missed Wall Street's
expectations.
The company has struggled lately with sales tumbling in the past
10 quarters as email and other communication methods replace
traditional mail use. Equipment makers, concerned about a changing
market, are shifting toward cloud computing. Pitney Bowes is
adapting its business to offer new cloud-friendly services, such as
a cloud-based mail delivery system.
Pitney reported a profit of $90.9 million, or 42 cents a share,
up from $83.6 million, or 38 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding restructuring costs and other items, earnings were 53
cents compared with 55 cents a year earlier.
Revenue dropped 1.9% to $1.32 billion on a decline in supplies,
rentals and financing sales.
Analysts estimated earnings of 53 cents on revenue of $1.36
billion, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.
Operating margin fell to 10.1% from 11.9%.
Sales from business services, its largest by that measure, were
down 4.2%. Equipment sales, the second-largest revenue source,
increased 1%.
Shares of Pitney, which reiterated its 2011 forecast, closed
Thursday at $26.18 and were inactive premarket.
-By Ian Thomson and Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires;
212-416-2481; tess.stynes@dowjones.com