Automatic Data reports flat 3rd-quarter profit, revenue inches higher

Automatic Data posts flat 3Q profit

ROSELAND, N.J. — Automatic Data Processing Inc., the world’s biggest payroll processor, reported flat earnings for its fiscal third quarter on Tuesday, as sales inched higher along with expenses.

But there were signs the employment picture is improving as the economy starts to recover.

“We are beginning to see metrics in our business turning around,” Chief Financial Officer Christopher Reidy said in an interview.

The number of employees on ADP’s clients’ payrolls declined 2.5 percent during the quarter. In the first half of the fiscal year, the decline was 5 percent to 6 percent, he said.

For the three months ended March 31, ADP earned $403.6 million, or 80 cents per share, compared with a profit of $402.5, or 80 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue rose 3 percent to $2.44 billion from $2.37 billion.

Analysts, on average, were expecting a profit of 78 cents per share on revenue of $2.4 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.

The quarter’s total expenses rose 6 percent to $1.84 billion from $1.74 billion.

ADP tweaked its forecast for the full fiscal year, which ends in June. It now expects earnings between $2.36 and $2.38 per share. Its earlier forecast was for earnings at the high end of its outlook range of $2.34 to $2.39 per share.

It expects full-year revenue about in line with last year’s.

Shares fell 73 cents to $44.60 in afternoon trading. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $33.26 and $45.74.

Eds: CORRECTS abbreviation to ADP not ADT.