FactSet Research Systems Inc. defied the recession”™s realities by closing its fiscal year with revenue up 8 percent from fiscal 2008 and solid profits, but sales appear to finally be slowing early in fiscal 2010.
FactSet provides systems to monitor financial markets and portfolios; in July 2008, the company acquired the Thomson Fundamentals database from Stamford-based Thomson Reuters, and this past September announced it had consolidated previously separate data and analysis software applications onto a single platform.
After adding more than 400 employees during the quarter at low-cost, offshore locations, the company now employs about 3,000 people. In May, FactSet terminated an outsourcing agreement for unspecified business processes supporting its operations.
For the fourth fiscal quarter ending Aug. 31, FactSet pocketed $36 million in profits as revenue inched up 1 percent to $155 million and the company closed the year with a $145 million profit on sales of $622 million.
FactSet expects revenue in the current quarter to be flat at best, forecasting a range between $152 million and $157 million.
“I think the challenge for all of the suppliers in this industry is that the client is more cost-conscious and that”™s putting a burden on everyone to deliver more value,” said Michael Frankenfield, director of U.S. investment management services, in a conference call last month with investment analysts.
