MOUNTAIN VIEW (dpa-AFX) - Accounting software maker Intuit Inc (INTU), Thursday said its loss for the fourth quarter widened, mainly hurt by operating expenses that offset growth in revenue. Loss for the quarter was worse than what Wall Street had estimated, while revenue surpassed expectations.
Intuit, which makes QuickBooks and TurboTax software, provided a weak guidance for the first quarter and full year 2015. Intuit shares dropped 2 percent in after-hours trade on the Nasdaq.
Intuit sees longer-term financial gains with online subscriptions and hopes its Cloud platform strategy will boost growth.
'We closed fiscal 2014 on a strong note. Overall customer growth is accelerating, active use and attach rates are increasing, and global adoption is in full swing,' said CEO Brad Smith.
Intuit, based in Mountain View, California, posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $39 million or $0.14 per share, compared with a loss of $16 million or $0.05 per share last year.
Excluding items, adjusted loss for the quarter was $2 million or $0.01 per share, compared to earnings of $1 million or $0.00 per share a year ago.
On average, 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.07 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Results were offset by expenses that escalated to $787 million from $694 million, on higher cost of service revenue, general and other expenses.
Revenue for the quarter rose 13 percent to $714 million from $634 million a year ago. Thirteen analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $699.5 million for the quarter.
Among segments, small business group revenue rose 12 percent from last year, with its QuickBooks Online subscribers up 40 percent. Consumer group revenue climbed 22 percent and professional tax group revenue gained 16 percent.
For the first quarter, Inuit expects adjusted loss of $0.21 to $0.20 per share and revenue of $620 million to $630 million. Analysts currently expect a loss of $0.04 per share on revenue of $680.6 million.
For fiscal year 2015, Intuit expect adjusted earnings of $2.45 to $2.50 per share, revenue of $4.28 billion to $4.38 billion and adjusted revenue of $4.75 billion to $4.85 billion. Analysts currently expect earnings of $3.97 per share on revenue of $4.85 billion for the year.
For fiscal year 2017, Intuit projects adjusted earnings of about $5.00 per share and revenue of about $5.8 billion.
Intuit approved a dividend of up to $1.00 per share for fiscal 2015, a 32 percent increase from last year.
During the fourth quarter, Intuit repurchased $152.5 million of shares in the fourth quarter; about $1.9 billion remains on the authorization.
In June, Intuit completed its $360 million acquisition of Check, a mobile bill-payment service provider based in Palo Alto, California. The deal will accelerate Intuit's ability to offer bill pay across small business and personal finance products.
Intuit stock closed Thursday at $85.81, up $0.54 or 0.63%, on a volume of 1.3 million shares on the Nasdaq. In after hours, the stock dropped $1.80 or 2.10%, to trade at $84.01.
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