Intuit 3Q Profit Off Less Than 1 Percent

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Personal finance software maker Intuit Inc. said Wednesday its fiscal third-quarter earnings dipped less than 1 percent on new stock option expenses and a higher tax rate, though a strong consumer tax season drove up sales by 14 percent.

For the three months ending in April, the maker of TurboTax and Quicken software said its net income was $298.6 million, or $1.68 per share, compared to $300.5 million, or $1.61 per share, a year ago. Excluding items, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company said it earned $318.3 million, or $1.79 per share, up from $287.5 million, or $1.54 per share, last year.

Revenue increased to $953 million from $834.9 million in the 2005 period.

After the company raised its guidance in April — the second time in two months — analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial pegged their earnings expectations at $1.76 per share on revenue of $943.7 million.

Intuit predicted last month its quarterly profit would be higher than previously expected, primarily because more people were buying the online version of its market-leading tax preparation software. It had projected earnings would be in the range from $1.75 to $1.76 per share, excluding certain expenses, and raised revenue estimates to a range from $940 million to $945 million.

Indeed, it was a record tax season for TurboTax, with third-quarter sales rising to $499 million for the segment, up 19 percent from the year-ago period, the company said.

The online version of the tax filing program was particularly popular, with unit sales up 59 percent to 4.3 million units compared to 2.7 million units in the year-ago period. Unit sales of the desktop version of the TurboTax software installed on computers was almost flat, rising to 3.6 million units from 3.3 million units a year ago.

"The fact that more and more people are getting comfortable with the Internet, and the ease with which you could do your taxes online is definitely drawing more sales," Intuit's chief executive Steve Bennett said in an interview.

Sales of the company's QuickBooks products also continued to be solid, accounting for $212 million in revenue, up 8 percent from the year-ago quarter, the company said.

The company lifted its financial outlook for the fiscal year. It projected revenues to range from $2.31 billion to $2.33 billion, and earnings per share, excluding certain items, to range from $2.40 to $2.42.

The revised range topped analysts' average estimates of earnings of $2.40 per share on revenue of $2.31 billion.

Intuit also announced a two-for-one stock split planned for July 6 as well as a stock repurchase program for up to $500 million over the next three years.

The company's shares fell 80 cents, or 1.5 percent, to close at $51.27 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock lost another 33 cents in extended trading after the company released its results.

yahoo.com/