Diebold Swings To Q1 Profit - Update

(RTTNews) - ATM maker Diebold Inc. (DBD), Tuesday reported a swing to profit in the first quarter, driven largely by sales increase, strong gross margins and lower operating costs. Earnings for the quarter came in line with Wall Street estimates, while revenues trumped expectations.

Diebold reported a first-quarter profit of $9.8 million or $0.15 per share compared to a loss of $13.4 million or $0.21 per share reported last year.

Adjusted earnings were $0.24 per share for the quarter, compared to a loss of $0.04 last year. On average, seven analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.24 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Diebold revenues for the first quarter grew 8.6 percent to $688.3 million from $633.5 million last year. The Street expected revenues of $655.10 million for the quarter.

Gross margin, or gross profit for the quarter, improved to 23.8 percent from 20.5 percent last year. Operating costs, as a percent of sales, dropped to 20.5 percent from 22.7 percent last year.

Looking forward to full year 2014, the company now expect earnings in the range of $1.30 to $1.55 per share with revenue growth of mid-single digits. Previously, the company expected earnings of $1.25 to $1.55 per share and revenue growth of low-single digits.

Meanwhile, the company reaffirmed its adjusted earnings guidance for the full year of $1.65 to $1.85 per share. Analysts currently expect earnings of $1.78 per share on revenue growth of 3.20 percent.

Separately, Diebold said it would engage Accenture (ACN) to provide the company with finance and accounting (F&A), human resources (HR), and procurement business process outsourcing (BPO) services to support its transformation strategy.

DBD is currently trading at $37.10, down $1.90 or 4.87%, on the NYSE.