Acxiom Corp. reported $330.5 million in revenue during the second quarter of its fiscal 2006 year, up from $299.1 million a year ago. Acquisitions and divestitures contributed 4 percentage points of this 11-point gain. The company’s net earnings, however, dropped from $18.5 million to $7.1 million, largely due to a jump in costs in sales expenses and nonrecurring charges of $12.8 million.
The Little Rock, AR-based data firm took a hit from $13 million in restructuring costs, $2.2 million in legal fees associated with a potential hostile takeover by ValueAct Capital, a $2.6 million loss on the sale of assets, and $800,000 on the settlement of legal actions. These were partly offset by a one-time gain of $2.8 million on the sale of a Phoenix facility.
During the quarter, Acxiom purchased Insight America, a data firm based in Broomfield, CO, and bought back $69.1 million in stock.
Operating costs as a percentage of revenue at Acxiom were higher in second-quarter 2006 than they were a year earlier. A year ago, operating costs and expenses were 73.1% of revenue generated. In the quarter just ended, they made up 74.3%.
