Diebold Inc. April 27 reported lower first-quarter revenues, but executives say the North Canton, Ohio-based company is booking more orders for intelligent-deposit ATMs from regional and community banks that previously were reluctant to open their wallets.
The ATM manufacturer reported net income of $23.9 million for the quarter ended March 31, up 139% from $1.6 million for the same three-month period last year. Revenue, however, fell 5.8%, to $618.9 million from $657.2 million.
Bradley C. Richardson, Diebold chief financial officer and executive vice president, attributed the revenue decline to currency valuations and fewer ATM sales, as Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., the nation’s two largest bank owners of ATMs, completed their deployment of intelligent-deposit ATMs (
The completion of those rollouts helped create a 17% decline in North American revenue and a 9% drop in ATM orders in the region, Thomas W. Swidarski, Diebold president and CEO, said during a conference call with analysts without providing specific data. The company’s Financial Self-service Products unit, which includes ATMs, reported worldwide sales of $203.7 million, down 15.1% from $239.9 million.
“The completion of large deposit-automation deployments by major national banks created a very challenging comparison” with last year’s first quarter, Swidarski said.
Banks ranked fourth to 20th in size based on assets are beginning to express interest in intelligent-deposit ATMs, he said.
“We have actively engaged in several rollouts that began as pilots involving 50 to 75 units,” Swidarski said. “When you are piloting 75 or over 100 ATMs, you are now feeling that it is the beginning of a rollout.”
Regional and community banks also have expressed more interest in intelligent-deposit ATMs, which Swidarski attributed to their desire to facilitate the sharing and clearing of check images.
Gil Luria, an analyst with Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, says the news appears good for Diebold. “Their ATM orders have stabilized, and the company expects to see growth [in shipments] for the rest of the year,” he says.
Diebold’s services revenue increased 0.4%, to $267.8 million from $268.8 million in last year’s first quarter.
Integrated Services, which provides ATM-management services and leases, booked $20 million in new business during the quarter primarily through contracts with foreign banks, according to Diebold.
