SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - A month after warning that its fourth-quarter numbers would be lower than originally expected, eFunds Corp. (NASDAQ:EFDS) confirmed that red flag on Jan. 30, announcing that for the period ending Dec. 31, 2001, the company recorded revenue of $130.1 million.
While the figure represented a 15.4 percent increase over the $112.7 million in revenue for the same period in 2000, it was still below the original expectation of $140 million to $145 million.
But while despite failing to reach initial revenue projections, the overall numbers were encouraging for the electronic payment and business process management services company.
For the three-month period ending Dec. 31, the company reported net income of $11.6 million, a significant increase over 2000, when net income was $5.3 million. For the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, eFunds had net income of $38.1 million, up 161 percent over the previous year's net income of $14.6 million.
"As we reported in late December, we clearly had challenges with sales deferrals and delays in the fourth quarter," Gus Blanchard, eFunds chairman and chief executive officer, said in the year-end report. "Despite this, we achieved strong results for the quarter and what we view as excellent financial results for our first full fiscal year as an independent company."
In the year-end report, eFunds predicted flat revenue and lower earnings in the first quarter of 2002, to be followed by significant increases in the second quarter of 2002 as new products are introduced.
