Booz Allen Q4 Profit, Revenue Down; Shares Fall - Update

(RTTNews) - Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. (BAH), the parent company of management and technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. Wednesday reported a decline in fourth-quarter profit, as revenues fell due to uncertainties in the government contracting environment, including the October 2013 government shutdown.

Adjusted earnings beat analysts' expectations, while revenues matched view. Further, the company declared a 10 percent increase in its regular quarterly cash dividend.

For fiscal year 2015, the firm forecast continued margin improvement and solid earnings with an expected modest decrease in revenue. The shares fell more tnan 9 percent in the morning trade.

Announcing its preliminary results, the company said its fourth-quarter net Income decreased to $46.90 million or $0.30 per share from $54.81 million or $0.37 per share in the prior year.

On an adjusted basis, earnings were $0.33 per share, while the company posted $0.40 per share last year. On average, 10 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.31 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the quarter declined 9.4 percent to $1.40 billion from $1.55 billion last year, but was in line with analysts estimated revenues of $1.40 billion.

The company noted that the decline in revenue reflected reductions in headcount due to lower demand in an uncertain federal budget environment.

In addition, there were two fewer work days in the quarter compared to the prior year period, as well as additional impact of three full and two partial weather-related government closures and a reduction in billable expenses. Lower headcount led to fewer billable hours in total, the firm stated.

Looking ahead, for fiscal 2015, the firm expects earnings per share to be in the range of $1.44 to $1.54, and adjusted earnings to be in the order of $1.50 to $1.60 per share. Revenues are estimated to decline by a mid-single digit percentage.

Street analysts expect the company to earn $1.56 per share, on revenues of $5.33 billion.

The company also declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.11 per share, up 10 percent from last year, to stockholders of record on June 10, 2014, payable on June 30.

BAH is currently trading at $22.19, down $2.22 or 9.07 percent.