Equifax Q3 Profit Down

(RTTNews) - Georgia-based consulting service company Equifax Inc. (EFX), Wednesday reported a narrower net income in the third quarter. The company also increased its fourth-quarter and full-year revenue outlook. Net income for the quarter was $205.40 million or $1.66 per share, down from $228.50 million or $1.86 earnings per share in the same quarter last year. Excluding special items, the net earnings were $228.70 million or $1.85 earnings per share, down from $234.70 million or $1.91 earnings per share. On average, 17 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated the earnings to be $1.72 per share. Analysts estimates typically exclude one-time items. Equifax reported revenues of $1.22 billion for the third quarter, up from $1.06 billion year-over-year. The revenue was primarily driven by a 35% increase in Workforce Solutions revenue, which grew to $508.00 million. Analysts forecast the revenue to be $1.18 billion. Equifax expects the revenue to grow 10% in the fourth quarter to the range of $1.23 billion to $1.25 billion with adjusted earnings of $1.72 to $1.82 per share. For the full year, the company forecast revenue of around $4.90 billion to $4.92 billion with adjusted earnings of $7.52 t0 $7.62 per share. Analyst outlook for the next quarter was $1.9 billion revenue with $1.80 earnings per share, while for the full year the Street expects $4.83 billion revenue with $7.47 in earnings per share. Mark Begor, Equifax Chief Executive Officer said, "We are investing our strong outperformance in almost $3 billion of strategic and accretive acquisitions this year which will position Equifax for future growth, including our people-based risk intelligence data provider Appriss Insights, which we closed just after quarter-end. The acquisitions enhance the differentiated data 'Only Equifax' can provide, driving substantial revenue growth and synergies in the future."