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Intuit's Operating Loss Narrower Than Expected
Added: (Wed Nov 24 1999)
By Duncan Martell
Intuit Inc. (NasdaqNM:INTU - news), the largest maker of personal finance software, reported quarterly results that were better than forecast, as sales rose 46 percent. Strong sales of its Quicken and QuickBooks products, as well as increasing Internet-based revenue, fueled results.
Intuit said on Tuesday it had a loss of $22.6 million for the fiscal first quarter ended Oct. 31, excluding one-time items, or $0.12 per share, compared with a loss of $26.8 million, or $0.15 per share before one-time items a year ago.
The current quarter figure was less than the 19 cent operating loss forecast by analysts, according to First Call/Thomson Financial.
Revenue rose to $163.1 million from $112 million a year ago. Excluding sales from a payroll processing company it bought in the fourth quarter, sales rose 38 percent.
Intuit has been realigning more of its services, such as tax preparation, to the Internet over the last several years. It has also aggressively built up its www.quicken.com Internet portal.
On Tuesday, Intuit and No. 1 online service provider America Online Inc. said they will team up to offer an online service for paying household bills early next year.
"We're pretty pleased with the quarter," chairman and acting president and chief executive Bill Campbell said in an interview. "It's hard not to be pleased with the momentum of our businesses."
Intuit stock rose 2-3/16 to 44-1/16 on the Nasdaq. The company released results after the close of trading. Results take into account a 3-for-1 stock split effective Sept. 30.
The company told investors and analysts on a conference call that Internet-based sales were about $31 million, up 119 percent from last year. Its Quicken.com Web site had 162 million page views and sales of its QuickBooks accounting software were up 78 percent over last quarter.
Intuit has also been moving to offer online payroll and other services via the Web for small businesses. Mountain View, Calif.-based Intuit processed more than 342 million online payrolls in its first quarter, an increase of 28 percent from the fourth quarter and up more than 10-fold from a year ago.
QuickBooks registered users soared to 2.9 million from 2.2 million a year ago.
Including one-time items, Intuit reported a $61.7 million, or $0.33 per share, loss for the quarter, consistent with its seasonal revenue pattern, which produces lower revenue and profits outside of the tax season.
Intuit said that with tax season rapidly approaching, it remains on track with its development efforts, both for Internet-based and desktop products. It said this season's TurboTax software products are scheduled for December release.
The company said it expects increasing competition due to Microsoft Corp.'s (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) expected entry into the personal tax market with a product rumored to be called TaxSaver. Campbell also said rival H & R Block Co. (NYSE:HRB - news) has stepped up competition as well. But he added that the company is in a strong position to compete with the two.
AOL and Intuit said their new bill management service would give consumers a simple way to receive, view, track and pay both electronic and paper-based bills online. The system will be offered to the nearly 20 million users of AOL's online service and AOL.com, a Web link to the online service.
Scott Cook, an Intuit founder and chairman of the company's executive committee, told investors and analysts on the call that the deal with AOL in no way precludes it from striking bill-paying ventures with other companies.