Pitney Bowes Inc.'s (PBI) second-quarter earnings climbed 64% on
improved revenue, led by the equipment and software segments.
The mail and document-management company had seen sales tumble
in the previous 10 quarters as consumers turned to email and other
communication methods from traditional mail use. Pitney Bowes is
adapting its business to offer new cloud-friendly services as
equipment makers continue to shift toward these computing
technologies.
Pitney reported a profit of $100.9 million, or 49 cents a share,
up from $61.4 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding restructuring charges, asset impairments and tax
adjustments, earnings from continuing operations were up to 52
cents from 48 cents.
Revenue increased 1.3% to $1.31 billion, including a 3% gain
from foreign currency translation.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 52 cents
on revenue of $1.32 billion.
Operating margin widened to 12.1% from 9.2% as total costs and
expenses fell 3.2%.
Sales from business services, its largest segment by revenue,
fell 0.9%. Equipment sales, the second-largest revenue source,
increased 6.5%. Software sales were up 20%.
Shares of Pitney, which reaffirmed its full-year earnings
forecast, closed at $19.64 Thursday and were inactive after hours.
The stock is down 6.5% in the past 12 months.
-By Nathalie Tadena, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3287; nathalie.tadena@dowjones.com