DAYTON, Ohio - NCR Corporation (NYSE:NCR) reported net income of $44 million, or 46 cents per diluted share, and revenue of $1.45 billion for 2004's fourth quarter, versus net income of $18 million, or 19 cents per diluted share, and revenue of $1.36 billion in the third quarter of 2003.
NCR's earnings beat the mean estimate of 40 cents per share from analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
Mark Hurd, president and chief executive officer of NCR, said that revenue growth in the company'sTeradata Data Warehousing and Financial Self Service businesses, as well as cost and expense improvements, enabled NCR to deliver "another solid quarter."
The Financial Self Service segment, which includes ATMs, generated record third-quarter revenue of $338 million, up from $271 million reported for 2003's third quarter.
NCR reported that it is seeing continued growth in upgrades, replacements and the purchase of new ATMs as banks focus more on branch banking, transaction migration and compliance with regulatory changes. Motivated by the recently enacted Check 21 legislation, banks in the United States are investing in new deposit-capable ATMs.
The Teradata Data Warehousing segment reported record third-quarter revenue of $312 million, up 14 percent from 2003's third quarter.
Retail Store Automation generated $217 million of revenue, up 3 percent from $210 million in 2003's third quarter.
Customer Services reported revenue of $452 million, down 1 percent from the third quarter of 2003.
NCR now predicts fourth-quarter earnings of 76 cents to 81 cents -- or 72 cents to 77 cents excluding a 4-cent net gain from anticipated real-estate transactions -- on flat revenue.
The company also raised its view for full-year earnings of $2.45 to $2.50 per share, including gains from tax breaks and real-estate transactions, and adjusted income of $1.48 to $1.53 on sales growth of 3 percent to 4 percent.
Previously, NCR said it expected adjusted earnings of 70 cents to 75 cents in the fourth quarter, and $1.40 to $1.45 in 2004. That compares with earnings of 84 cents per share on sales of $1.64 billion in last year's fourth quarter, and 84 cents on sales of $5.6 billion in 2003.
