NORWALK, Conn., Sept. 23, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS), a leading provider of integrated financial information and analytical applications to the global investment community, today announced its results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008.
For the quarter ended August 31, 2008, revenues rose to $153.7 million, an increase of 19% compared to the prior year. Income from operations for the fourth quarter advanced to $50.2 million, up 18% from $42.7 million in the same period of fiscal 2007. Net income rose to $33.6 million as compared to $30.7 million a year ago. Diluted earnings per share increased to $0.67, up from $0.60 in the same period of fiscal 2007. In the fourth quarter last year, diluted earnings per share included a tax benefit of $1.1 million or $0.02 per diluted share related to a prior period.
On July 24, 2008 FactSet announced that it had completed its acquisition of a copy of the Thomson Fundamentals database and related assets pursuant to the agreement reached with Thomson Reuters ("Thomson") on April 22, 2008. Excluding the impact of the Thomson Fundamentals acquisition and the tax benefit in the fourth quarter of 2007, non-GAAP income from operations increased 20% to $51.3 million, non-GAAP net income advanced 16% to $34.3 million and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share rose to $0.68, up 17%. The growth rates of net income and diluted earnings per share were impacted by a 65% decline in interest income to $0.8 million for the quarter ended August 31, 2008.
To aid an investor's ability to make more precise interpretations of FactSet's financial results, a supplementary schedule is presented on page 8 of this press release to summarize non-GAAP financial measures related to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008.
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Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
(In thousands, August 31, August 31,
except per ----------------------- -----------------------
share data) 2008 2007 Change 2008 2007 Change
-------------- ---- ---- ------ ---- ---- ------
Revenues $153,707 $129,532 18.7% $575,519 $475,801 21.0%
Income from
operations 50,231 42,668 17.7 183,887 155,091 18.6
Other income 835 2,358 (64.6) 5,160 7,785 (33.7)
Provision
for income
taxes 17,482 14,310 22.2 64,030 53,309 20.1
Net income 33,584 30,716 9.3 125,017 109,567 14.1
Diluted
earnings
per common
share $0.67 $0.60 11.7% $2.50 $2.14 16.8%
Diluted
weighted
average
common
shares 50,341 51,076 50,080 51,284
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Philip A. Hadley, Chairman and CEO said, "The macro environment has now been challenging for more than a year, yet it is gratifying that again this quarter FactSet grew both its user base and client count. The results point to significant progress in our efforts to increase the engagement level of users and add incremental value to clients. We were also very pleased that our previously announced acquisition of Thomson Fundamentals closed during the fourth quarter. We believe that the estimated market opportunity for fundamental data just among our existing client base is in excess of $100 million, representing a large new source of potential revenue growth for FactSet."
Annual Subscription Value ("ASV")
ASV increased $25.5 million organically during the quarter when excluding currency and $2.0 million acquired from Thomson. The increase during the quarter was derived from strong performance from both the U.S. and non-U.S. investment management businesses. While the positive ASV change was not significant for the Company's sell side business, user count rose again on a net basis during the quarter.
At August 31, 2008, ASV was $615 million, up 19% from a year ago. Excluding acquisitions and currency, ASV grew 18% organically or $92.6 million over the last year. ASV from FactSet's domestic operations was $420 million, while overseas operations support ASV of $195 million. ASV at any given point in time represents the forward-looking revenues for the next 12 months from all annual subscription services currently being supplied to clients.
Other Financial Highlights
* Excluding the acquisition of Thomson Fundamentals, free cash flow
generated during the quarter was $39.5 million.
* U.S. revenues were $106 million, up 16% from the year ago quarter.
* Non-U.S. revenues increased 25% to $48.0 million. On a constant
currency basis the growth rate was 23%.
* Operating margins were 33.4% excluding FactSet Fundamentals, up 90
basis points from the third quarter.
* Earnings per share dilution from FactSet Fundamentals was $0.01.
* Non-subscription revenues during the quarter were $2.7 million. A
supplementary schedule is presented on page 9 of this press
release to summarize revenues related to services that are not
included in the calculation of FactSet's subscription value.
Operational Highlights - Fourth Quarter of Fiscal 2008
* Client retention rate remained above 95%.
* Users rose to 40,120 at quarter end, up 510 professionals over the
past three months.
* Client count was 2,085 at August 31, a net increase of 41 clients.
* PA 2.0 was deployed by 637 clients and 5,730 users at quarter end,
a user increase of 22% over the prior year.
* Employee count at August 31, 2008 was 1,934, an increase of 108
employees during the quarter. Excluding acquisitions, the number
of employees is up 16% from a year ago.
* Capital expenditures were $9.6 million, net of landlord
contributions for construction. Expenditures for computer
equipment were $5.7 million and the remainder covered office space
expansion.
* In August 2008, the Company granted 1.7 million employee stock
options. As in fiscal 2007, 61% of the options granted vest and
are expensed only if performance metrics are achieved over the
next two fiscal years.
* The Company repurchased 189,700 shares for $12.1 million. At
August 31, 2008, $105.0 million remains authorized for future
repurchases. Common shares outstanding at August 31, 2008 were
48.0 million.
* The Company paid its quarterly cash dividend of $0.18 per share on
September 16, 2008 to holders of record of FactSet's common stock
on August 29, 2008.
* FactSet was added to the Standard & Poor's MidCap 400 Index.
Fiscal 2008 Highlights
* Revenues increased 21% to $575.5 million.
* Diluted earnings per share rose 17% to $2.50.
* Excluding the acquisition of Thomson Fundamentals, free cash flow
for fiscal 2008 was $117.0 million.
* FactSet increased its quarterly dividend 50% from $0.12 to $0.18
per share in May 2008.
* FactSet completed its transition to Hewlett Packard Integrity
mainframes in both of its data centers well ahead of schedule
during the second quarter of fiscal 2008.
* On January 31, 2008, FactSet acquired DealMaven, Inc. for $14.0
million in cash. The acquisition increased ASV by $3.2 million
and did not have a material impact on operating income or diluted
earnings per share in fiscal 2008.
* New lease agreements were executed to expand and support
operations in Boston, the Netherlands, India, Australia and Japan.
* FactSet was recognized on FORTUNE's "100 Best Companies to Work
for" list and named by BusinessWeek as one of the "Best Places to
Launch a Career."
Acquisition of a Copy of the Thomson Fundamentals Database and Related Assets
On July 24, 2008 FactSet announced that it had completed its acquisition of a copy of the Thomson Fundamentals database and related assets pursuant to the agreement reached with Thomson on April 22, 2008.
Fundamental data is historical financial information (i.e. income statement, balance sheet and cash flows) and related underlying data from the footnotes to the financial statements. The Thomson Fundamentals Database is a preeminent global financial database with coverage of over 43,000 companies and history back to 1980 and has been available and distributed by FactSet since 1991.
The sale included $2.0 million of annual revenues transferred from Thomson to FactSet, copies of the Thomson Fundamental database, source documents, collection software, documentation and collection training materials. Thomson Fundamentals will continue as a product on the FactSet platform. Consideration paid by FactSet was $58.7 million and was funded from cash from operations.
We believe that the transaction is valuable to FactSet for four primary reasons:
1. The opportunity to buy a copy of a trusted premium, global
fundamental database with history back to the 1980s is rare and
is unlikely to repeat itself in the foreseeable future.
2. Fundamentals is one of three core data sets (along with security
prices and estimates) all major providers distribute. FactSet now
owns all three core content sets, on a global basis.
3. Fundamental data is used by all FactSet clients and prospective
clients and nearly every user in FactSet's addressable universe.
4. The estimated market opportunity for fundamental data just among
our existing client base is in excess of $100 million,
representing a large new source of potential revenue growth for
FactSet.
FactSet also entered into a Transition Services Agreement ("TSA") with Thomson. Under the TSA, Thomson is providing services for 18 months from the closing date, including daily updates to FactSet's fundamental database. The daily updates are provided on the same schedule and with the same timeliness, content and quality as the updates FactSet receives for Thomson Fundamentals. The TSA also outlines consulting and support services Thomson will provide to FactSet in order to ensure a complete understanding of the structure, content and data collection processes required to deliver a production version of the database by the end of the transition period. The cost of the TSA is approximately $9 million, of which $8.25 million is consideration for the daily database updates and will be expensed ratably over the 18 month period.
FactSet anticipates that this transaction will be dilutive to earnings per share ("EPS") until the 18 month transition period concludes. The quarterly costs of transition services on a pre-tax basis should approximate $1.6 million or $6.5 million for the full 2009 fiscal year. These costs are eliminated at the end of the 18 month transition period. The transaction is expected to be accretive to EPS in fiscal 2010.
Business Outlook
The following forward-looking statements reflect FactSet's expectations as of September 23, 2008. Given the number of risk factors, uncertainties and assumptions discussed below, actual results may differ materially. The Company does not intend to update its forward-looking statements until its next quarterly results announcement, other than in publicly available statements.
First Quarter Fiscal 2009 Expectations
* Revenues are expected to range between $154 million and $157
million. The high and low end of the range has been decreased to
account for potential future reductions in services to Lehman
Brothers, Merrill Lynch, AIG and Washington Mutual. FactSet
believes the related exposure is approximately 1.5% of ASV or $10
million. As a reminder, the just completed fourth quarter included
$1.4 million in non-subscription revenues from workstations sold
to summer interns.
* Operating margins excluding FactSet Fundamentals are expected to
range between 31.5% and 33%. This guidance assumes a reduction in
sequential quarterly margins of 90 basis points due to
workstations sold to summer interns in the fourth quarter.
* Other income is expected to be between $0.6 million and $1.0
million.
* The effective tax rate is expected to range between 33.8% and
34.6% and assumes the U.S. Federal R&D tax credit is not reenacted.
* EPS dilution from FactSet Fundamentals remains at $0.04 per share.
The primary expense drivers are the cost of the TSA from Thomson
and new employee growth to support the collection operation.
Full Year Fiscal 2009
* Capital expenditures, net of landlord contributions, are expected
to range between $32 million and $38 million.
Forward looking statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements based on management's current expectations, estimates and projections. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about the Company's strategy for growth, product development, market position, subscriptions, expected expenditures and financial results are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "expected," "anticipates," "plans," "intends," "projects," "should," "indicates," "continues," "subscriptions" and similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors, including those discussed more fully elsewhere in this release and in FactSet's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly its latest annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, as well as others, could cause results to differ materially from those stated. These factors include, but are not limited to, the status of the global economy; the ability to integrate newly acquired companies; the stability of global securities markets; the ability to hire qualified personnel; the maintenance of the Company's leading technological position; the impact of global market trends on the Company's revenue growth rate and future results of operations; the negotiation of contract terms with corporate vendors, data suppliers and potential landlords; the continued performance of Thomson Reuters under the TSA; the retention of key clients; the successful resolution of ongoing audits by tax authorities; the continued employment of key personnel; the absence of U.S. or foreign governmental regulation restricting international business; and the sustainability of historical levels of profitability and growth rates in cash flow generation.
Conference Call
The Company will host a conference call today, September 23, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. (EST) to review the fourth quarter fiscal 2008 earnings release. To listen, please visit the investor relations section of the Company's website at www.factset.com.
About FactSet
FactSet Research Systems Inc. combines integrated financial information, analytical applications, and client service to enhance the workflow and productivity of the global investment community. The Company, headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, was formed in 1978 and now conducts operations from more than twenty-three locations worldwide.
FactSet Research Systems Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Income - Unaudited
(In thousands, except per share data)
Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
August 31, August 31,
2008 2007 2008 2007
---- ---- ---- ----
Revenues $153,707 $129,532 $575,519 $475,801
Operating expenses
Cost of services 50,684 41,697 191,239 152,797
Selling, general
and administrative 52,792 45,167 200,393 167,913
-------- -------- -------- --------
Total operating
expenses 103,476 86,864 391,632 320,710
-------- -------- -------- --------
Income from
operations 50,231 42,668 183,887 155,091
Other income 835 2,358 5,160 7,785
-------- -------- -------- --------
Income before
income taxes 51,066 45,026 189,047 162,876
Provision for
income taxes 17,482 14,310 64,030 53,309
-------- -------- -------- --------
Net income $ 33,584 $ 30,716 $125,017 $109,567
======== ======== ======== ========
Basic earnings
per common share $ 0.70 $ 0.63 $ 2.60 $ 2.24
Diluted earnings
per common share $ 0.67 $ 0.60 $ 2.50 $ 2.14
Weighted average
common shares (Basic) 47,908 48,669 48,065 48,873
Weighted average
common shares (Diluted) 50,341 51,076 50,080 51,284
FactSet Research Systems Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition - Unaudited
August 31, August 31,
(In thousands) 2008 2007
-------- --------
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents $117,986 $168,834
Investments 25,032 17,388
Accounts receivable, net of reserves 74,859 59,579
Deferred taxes 3,271 2,808
Prepaid taxes 1,090 --
Prepaid fundamentals database
updates - current 6,377 --
Other current assets 5,908 3,723
-------- --------
Total current assets 234,523 252,332
Property, equipment, and leasehold
improvements, net 91,113 78,945
Goodwill 186,538 146,187
Intangible assets, net 58,333 36,789
Deferred taxes 10,279 7,211
Prepaid fundamentals database
updates - non-current 2,000 --
Other assets 3,246 2,286
-------- --------
Total assets $586,032 $523,750
======== ========
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Accounts payable and accrued expenses $ 22,366 $ 23,461
Accrued compensation 38,095 30,105
Deferred fees 23,531 25,730
Dividends payable 8,634 5,802
Taxes payable -- 5,552
-------- --------
Total current liabilities 92,626 90,650
Deferred taxes 5,122 6,450
Taxes payable 3,905 --
Deferred rent and other non-current
liabilities 20,150 17,339
-------- --------
Total liabilities $121,803 $114,439
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock $ 571 $ 562
Capital in excess of par value 206,585 162,561
Treasury stock, at cost (311,248) (233,372)
Retained earnings 567,381 469,880
Accumulated other comprehensive income 940 9,680
-------- --------
Total stockholders' equity 464,229 409,311
-------- --------
Total liabilities and stockholders'
equity $586,032 $523,750
======== ========
FactSet Research Systems Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows - Unaudited
Twelve Months Ended
August 31,
(In thousands) 2008 2007
---- ----
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES
Net income $125,017 $109,567
Adjustments to reconcile net income
to net cash provided by operating
activities
Depreciation and amortization 30,654 28,560
Stock-based compensation expense 13,651 9,123
Deferred income taxes (4,828) (7,189)
Gain on sale of assets (75) (62)
Tax benefits from share-based
payment arrangements (9,572) (7,393)
Changes in assets and liabilities, net of
effects of acquisitions
Accounts receivable, net of reserves (14,804) (249)
Accounts payable and accrued expenses (1,260) 5,213
Accrued compensation 8,399 8,523
Deferred fees (2,651) 1
Taxes payable, net of prepaid taxes 7,436 3,240
Prepaid fundamentals database updates (9,139) --
Landlord contributions 1,009 2,892
Other working capital accounts, net (713) 3,682
-------- --------
Net cash provided by operating activities 143,124 155,908
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Acquisition of businesses, net of cash
acquired (75,869) --
Proceeds from sales of investments 44,392 17,213
Purchases of investments (52,011) (17,955)
Purchases of property, equipment
and leasehold improvements (35,780) (39,251)
-------- --------
Net cash used in investing activities (119,268) (39,993)
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Dividend payments (25,848) (14,654)
Repurchase of common stock (77,869) (80,299)
Repayment of note -- (2,258)
Proceeds from employee stock plans 20,562 15,612
Tax benefits from share-based
payment arrangements 9,572 7,393
-------- --------
Net cash used in financing activities (73,583) (74,206)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash
and cash equivalents (1,121) 576
-------- --------
Net (decrease) increase in cash
and cash equivalents (50,848) 42,285
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of
period 168,834 126,549
-------- --------
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $117,986 $168,834
======== ========
Reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP Financial Measures
FactSet's management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding its financial results and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing FactSet's performance and when planning, forecasting and analyzing future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures may also facilitate comparisons to FactSet's historical performance and to its competitors' operating results.
Three Months Ended
August 31,
(In thousands, except per share data) 2008 2007 Change
------------------------------------- ------- ------- -------
GAAP Income from operations $50,231 $42,668 17.7%
FactSet Fundamentals (a) 1,050 --
------- -------
Non-GAAP Income from operations $51,281 $42,668 20.2%
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GAAP Net income $33,584 $30,716 9.3%
FactSet Fundamentals, net of tax 690 --
Income tax benefits (b) -- (1,078)
------- -------
Non-GAAP Net income $34,274 $29,638 15.6%
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GAAP Diluted earnings per common share $0.67 $0.60 11.7%
Non-GAAP Diluted earnings per common share $0.68 $0.58 17.2%
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(a) To adjust for revenues and expenses incurred in connection with
the acquisition of a copy of the Thomson Fundamentals database
and related assets. A primary expense driver is the cost of the
TSA with Thomson.
(b) To adjust for income tax benefits of $1.1 million or $0.02 per
diluted share related to prior periods, as FactSet began to
include a benefit from the repatriation of foreign earnings to
the U.S. in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007.
Supplementary Schedule to the Fourth Quarter
Earnings Release
To aid an investor's ability to make more precise interpretations of FactSet's financial results, the supplementary schedule below summarizes revenues related to services that are not included in the calculation of FactSet's subscription value. Non-subscription services include revenues derived from workstations sold to summer interns, introducing brokerage services, M&A related publications and the Partner software product which is used to author equity research reports. Although the impact from non-subscription revenues individually and in the aggregate has been immaterial to FactSet's annual results, this table might enhance an investor's overall understanding of quarterly revenues.
Non-Subscription Revenues (1)
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(In thousands
and unaudited) August 31, August 31,
2008 2007 $ Change % Change
--------- --------- --------- ---------
For the three
months ended $2,720 $2,446 $ 274 11%
For the twelve
months ended $6,445 $7,108 $ (663) (9)%
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(1) Revenues from FactSet services that are not sold on a
subscription basis are excluded from FactSet's reported annual
subscription value. The aforementioned amounts were included
in FactSet's reported revenues each quarter.
IR_FDS