IT services provider Electronic Data Systems (EDS) slightly
exceeded analysts' expectations for its first fiscal quarter,
despite what it called a "challenging" environment in the economy
and the IT services market.
EDS had net income of $354m (£244m), or $0.72 per share, the
company said, surpassing by one cent the consensus expectation from
analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call. This compared with
net income of $446m, or $0.93 per share, in last year's first
fiscal quarter.
The company's first-quarter revenue rose 7% from a year earlier, to
$5.34bn (£3.69bn), much lower than EDS' expectation of 13% revenue
growth.
EDS said its net income in last year's first fiscal quarter
included several one-time gains and the cumulative effect of a
changed accounting practice. Excluding those gains, net income in
last year's first fiscal quarter was $301m, or $0.63 per share.
