Eplus (PLUS) has reported 5.35 percent rise in profit for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2017. The company has earned $10.49 million, or $0.75 a share in the quarter, compared with $9.96 million, or $0.68 a share for the same period last year. On the other hand, adjusted net income for the quarter stood at $11.06 million, or $0.79 a share compared with $10.64 million or $0.73 a share, a year ago. Revenue during the quarter grew 11.14 percent to $332.77 million from $299.40 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter expanded 59 basis points over the previous year period to 22.95 percent. Total expenses were 94.37 percent of quarterly revenues, down from 94.53 percent for the same period last year. This has led to an improvement of 16 basis points in operating margin to 5.63 percent.
Operating income for the quarter was $18.74 million, compared with $16.38 million in the previous year period.
However, the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at $20.58 million compared with $18.19 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA margin improved 11 basis points in the quarter to 6.18 percent from 6.07 percent in the last year period.
"Fourth quarter results represented a solid finish to the year for ePlus,” said Mark Marron, president and chief executive officer. "We achieved double-digit year-on-year increases in both net sales and diluted earnings per share, due primarily to strong organic growth as well as increases attributable to the two acquisitions we completed over the past fifteen months, which have enabled us to bring a broader array of solutions and services to our client base. Our 23% gross margin for the quarter reflected our ability to provide complex, customized solutions to mid-market and enterprise clients. For the year, we are pleased that diluted earnings per share growth surpassed revenue growth, while we continued to make ongoing investments in sales and technical personnel to support future growth.
Working capital increasesEplus has recorded an increase in the working capital over the last year. It stood at $220.83 million as at Mar. 31, 2017, up 7.97 percent or $16.30 million from $204.53 million on Mar. 31, 2016. Current ratio was at 1.59 as on Mar. 31, 2017, down from 1.75 on Mar. 31, 2016.
Debt comes down
Eplus has recorded a decline in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $37.42 million as on Mar. 31, 2017, down 21.08 percent or $10 million from $47.42 million on Mar. 31, 2016. Total debt was 5.05 percent of total assets as on Mar. 31, 2017, compared with 7.69 percent on Mar. 31, 2016. Debt to equity ratio was at 0.11 as on Mar. 31, 2017, down from 0.15 as on Mar. 31, 2016. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
