Carreker Corp., which offers software and consulting to help financial firms improve payment processing workflows, said its upbeat earnings forecast seems to have been on target.
While some companies have reported weakening IT spending, we continue to see solid demand for our products and solutions because they help clients improve earnings, said J.D. Carreker, chairman and chief executive officer of the Dallas company.
Such services continue to be in demand even when money dries up for more leading-edge technology.
The most important thing we accomplished last year is we were able to demonstrate with multiple clients that we can give $1 million to $1.5 million of earnings improvement for every $1 billion of assets, Mr. Carreker said.
Expansion into the United Kingdom and Australia also helped the company grow, he said. Its huge to take some of our technology and revenue capabilities across the water, because that means multiple new bank prospects. Carreker already has all of the top 20 U.S. banks as customers, and 150 to 200 U.S. bank clients in all.
The company said it expects to report on March 13 that revenue increased 45%, to about $110 million, in its fiscal 2000, which ended Jan. 31, and that per-share earnings rose 57%, to 66 cents.
Carreker expects fiscal fourth-quarter revenue to come in up 41% from a year earlier, at $30.5 million, and per-share earnings up 57%, at 22 cents.
The company reaffirmed its projection for fiscal 2001: revenue of about $145 million, earnings around 88 cents.
Mr. Carreker said that the November secondary offering in which 4.5 million shares of common stock were sold at $17 each had positioned the company well for growth.
At the time Carreker said that net proceeds would be used for working capital, general corporate purposes, and possible future acquisitions. The company has already started expanding its enterprise solutions group from a focus on back-room operations to a much broader array of services, the CEO said.
The secondary offering made it possible to not only reward the people in the company, but to position us well to look at acquisitions that increase value propositions, Mr. Carreker said.
