STAMFORD, Connecticut — Pitney Bowes' first-quarter net income dropped 58 percent from results a year ago that included a large tax benefit. Its adjusted results and revenue fell short of Wall Street's expectations.
The mailing equipment and software company also announced Tuesday that it is cutting its quarterly dividend in half, partly to give it more financial flexibility to invest back in the business.
The company's shares fell more than 7 percent in premarket trading.
For the three months ended March 31, Pitney Bowes Inc. earned $67.5 million, or 33 cents per share. A year ago the company earned $158.7 million, or 79 cents per share.
The prior year period included a tax benefit totaling 21 cents per share and a benefit of 6 cents per share from selling some leveraged lease assets in Canada.
Excluding costs related to retiring some debt and other items, earnings from continuing operations were 42 cents per share.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected earnings of 44 cents per share.
Revenue declined 4 percent to $1.17 billion from $1.22 billion, stung by lower licensing revenue from the software unit, lower recurring revenue in the small and medium business group and pricing pressure in the management services division.
Wall Street predicted $1.2 billion in revenue.
The Stamford, Connecticut, company maintained its forecast for full-year adjusted earnings between $1.85 and $2 per share, with revenue flat to up 3 percent. This implies revenue of $4.9 billion to $5.05 billion.
Analysts expect earnings of $1.94 per share on revenue of $4.89 billion.
Pitney Bowes said that its board approved a second-quarter dividend of 18.75 cents per share. In the first quarter its dividend was 37.5 cents per share. The second-quarter dividend will be paid on June 12 to shareholders of record on May 10.
The company's stock dropped $1.17, or 7.2 percent, to $15.03 about 75 minutes before the market opening.
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