Acxiom Announces First-Quarter Results

Acxiom® Corporation today announced financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2007 ended June 30, 2006. Acxiom will hold a conference call at 4:30 p.m. CDT today to discuss this information further. Interested parties are invited to listen to the call, which will be broadcast via the Internet at www.acxiom.com. Year over year, first-quarter earnings per diluted share increased 186 percent to $0.20. Consolidated net earnings for the quarter increased 168 percent to $17.8 million. First-quarter revenue totaled $336.7 million, representing an 8.5 percent increase over the same quarter last year.

“Our first-quarter results were strong and in line with our long-term Financial Road Map. These results reflect the growing strength of our company and the benefits from our ongoing initiatives to transform Acxiom,” Company Leader Charles D. Morgan said. “Our first-quarter operating income increased 143 percent over the same quarter last year, and our overall revenue growth of 8.5 percent was led by a 9.8 percent increase in our services business. We are clearly on the right path operationally and will continue to stay focused on executing our priority initiatives to deliver superior financial performance.”

Highlights of Acxiom’s first-quarter performance include:

• Revenue of $336.7 million, up 8.5 percent from $310.3 million in the first quarter a year ago.
• Income from operations of $36.3 million, a 143 percent increase compared to $15.0 million in the first quarter last year.
• Pre-tax earnings of $29.2 million, up 173 percent from $10.7 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2006.
• Diluted earnings per share of $.20, a 186 percent increase compared to $.07 in the first quarter last year.
• Operating cash flow of $56.4 million and free cash flow available to equity of $11.9 million. The free cash flow available to equity of $11.9 million is a non-GAAP financial measure, and a reconciliation to the comparable GAAP measure, operating cash flow, is attached to this press release.
• Services gross margin increased to 25.1 percent from 18.5 percent in the same quarter last year and from 23.7 percent in the sequential quarter ended March 31, 2006.
• Computer and related expense continued to decline as a percentage of revenue. This key performance metric fell to 21.7 percent versus 25.0 percent in the first quarter last year.
• Share repurchases for the quarter were approximately 576,000 shares for a total value of approximately $13.9 million.

“Our revenue and operating income are record results for the first fiscal quarter,” Morgan continued. “We are pleased with our performance in the first quarter, but we believe we have considerable opportunity to improve operating performance and deliver additional growth through execution of our long-term strategies.”

Morgan noted that Acxiom recently completed new contracts with General Motors Corporation; AutoNation, Inc.; Unilever; Yellow Book USA; AccuData and Southern Progress Corporation.