Irvine’s Epicor Software Corp., a maker of business software, upped its 2008 outlook on higher licensing revenue and a sooner-than-expected payoff from a recent acquisition.
Epicor said it’s looking for profits of $60 million to $62 million for the year, topping analysts’ expected $57 million.
The company said it sees sales of $545 million to $555 million, versus Wall Street’s projected $469 million in revenue.
Epicor’s recent $314 million buy of Britain’s NSB Retail Systems PLC is set to add $8 million to $10 million to sales during 2008, the company said.
The revised outlook comes on the heels of better-than-expected fourth-quarter results for Epicor.
The company posted $120 million in quarterly sales, up 15% from a year earlier and beating analysts’ expected $116 million.
Including charges for stock compensation, acquisitions, restructuring and a $14 million tax benefit, the company reported profits of $23 million, more than triple the $7 million it posted a year earlier.
Without the charges and the tax benefit, Epicor had profits of $16 million, up 25% from $12 million a year ago and in line with analysts’ expectations.
Epicor saw a big boost in revenue because it collected more fees for licensing its software during the fourth quarter.
Licensing revenue was $38 million, up 18% from a year earlier.
“2007 marks the fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth for Epicor in license revenue,” Chief Executive George Klaus said. “Our strong fourth quarter was driven in part by a new record for our top 10 license deals, which averaged in excess of $600,000.”
The company added 740 customers during 2007, he said.
For the current quarter, Epicor is looking for profits of $9 million to $10 million, slightly below the $11.6 million analysts were expecting.
The company forecasts sales of $112 million to $115 million, above Wall Street’s expected $108.6 million.
