Covering Scientific & Technical AI | Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Acxiom Announces First Quarter 2016 Financial Results 

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Aug. 5 -- Acxiom (Nasdaq: ACXM), an enterprise data, analytics and software-as-a-service company, today announced financial results for its first quarter ended June 30, 2016.

Financial Highlights

Revenue: Total revenue was $215 million, up 9% compared to the first quarter of last year driven by growth in each segment. US revenue of $197 million was up 11% year-over-year.

Operating Income (Loss): GAAP operating income from continuing operations improved to $8 million compared to a loss of $3 million in the prior year. Non-GAAP operating income from continuing operations improved 44% to approximately $21 million.

Earnings (Loss) per Share: GAAP diluted earnings per share from continuing operations were $0.05 compared to a loss per share of $0.07 in the prior year. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share from continuing operations were $0.15, up from $0.09 a year ago.

Operating Cash Flow: Operating cash flow from continuing operations was $1 million, down from $12 million last year. For the trailing twelve-month period, operating cash flow from continuing operations was $102 million, up from $89 million in the comparable period.

Free Cash Flow to Equity: Free cash flow to equity was negative $22 million compared to negative $12 million in the prior year. For the trailing twelve-month period, free cash flow to equity was $8 million, up from negative $12 million in the comparable period.

Segment Results

Marketing Services

  • Revenue was $110 million, up 2% compared to the first quarter of last year. Marketing Database and
  • Consulting revenue grew 8% year-over-year, but was offset by declines in Acxiom Impact. US revenue of $102 million was up 4% year-over-year.
  • Gross margin improved from 33% to 34%.
  • Segment income was $20 million, up 20% compared to the prior year.

Audience Solutions

  • Revenue was $74 million, up 8% compared to the prior year. US revenue of $66 million was up 9% year-over-year.
  • Gross margin improved from 54% to 57%.
  • Segment income was $25 million, up 4% compared to the prior year.

Connectivity

  • Revenue was $31 million, up 52% compared to the first quarter of last year. Connectivity exited the quarter with a $120 million annualized revenue run rate.
  • Gross margin declined from 58% to 56%.
  • Segment income was break-even compared to a loss of $1 million in the prior year.

A detailed discussion of our non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP results is provided in the schedules to this press release.

"I am pleased to report a solid first quarter, highlighted by strong financial performance, new partnerships and continued product innovation,” said Acxiom CEO Scott Howe. “Fiscal 2017 is off to a good start, and we are focused on extending our early momentum through the remainder of the year.”

Recent Business Highlights

Connectivity added more than 20 new customers during the quarter and added over 50 new partner integrations. Marketers can now onboard and activate their data across a growing network of more than 350 marketing platforms and data providers.

LiveRamp extended its data connectivity partnership with Google, adding Customer Match to an extensive set of integrations that include Google Analytics 360 Suite, Google DoubleClick Digital Marketing solutions and Google Store Transactions for both AdWords and DoubleClick Search. The new integration with Google Customer Match enables brands to activate their first-party data for targeting across YouTube, Search and Gmail.

LiveRamp announced a new integration with Facebook’s Offline Conversions API, allowing clients to connect Facebook advertising campaigns with offline sales transactions taking place in stores, branch offices, contact centers and other brick-and-mortar locations.

Acxiom announced strategic “next-gen” enhancements to its proprietary recognition technology, AbiliTec, improving marketers’ ability to bring together disparate consumer data sources for a single, current and accurate view of a customer across all channels.

Acxiom repurchased 926,000 shares for approximately $20 million during the quarter. Since inception of the share repurchase program in August 2011, Acxiom has repurchased 16.4 million shares for $275 million.

Acxiom Impact Divestiture

Acxiom also announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Impact email business (Acxiom Impact) to Zeta Interactive. In addition, Acxiom will enter into a separate multi-year contract to provide Zeta Interactive with Connectivity and Audience Solutions services. The transaction sharpens Acxiom’s focus on providing the data foundation for the world’s best marketers and opens the door to deeper partnerships with the marketing ecosystem.

The sale is expected to close in the second quarter of fiscal 2017, following the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Acxiom will use proceeds from the sale to help fund the expansion of its share repurchase program. As part of the revised program, Acxiom’s Board of Directors has increased the share repurchase authorization by $100 million to $400 million and extended the duration of the program through June 30, 2018. The company is authorized to repurchase shares from time to time in open market or privately negotiated transactions, depending on prevailing market conditions and other factors. The repurchase program may be suspended or discontinued at any time.

Financial Outlook

Acxiom’s non-GAAP guidance excludes the impact of non-cash compensation, purchased intangible asset amortization, restructuring charges and separation and transformation costs. Acxiom’s fiscal 2017 guidance assumes that the sale of Acxiom Impact will close on September 30, 2016.

For fiscal 2017, Acxiom now expects to report:

  • Revenue in the range of $850 million to $870 million
  • GAAP diluted earnings per share in the range of $0.10 to $0.14
  • Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share in the range of $0.55 to $0.60

About Acxiom

Acxiom is an enterprise data, analytics and software-as-a-service company that uniquely fuses trust, experience and scale to fuel data-driven results. For over 45 years, Acxiom has been an innovator in harnessing the most important sources and uses of data to strengthen connections between people, businesses and their partners. Utilizing a channel and media neutral approach, we leverage cutting-edge, data-oriented products and services to maximize customer value. Every week, Acxiom powers more than a trillion transactions that enable better living for people and better results for our 3,250+ global clients. For more information about Acxiom, visit Acxiom.com.


Source: Acxiom

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