Diebold Up after Strong Earnings

Shares of Diebold Inc. (NYSE: DBD) are rallying over 9% in morning trade and are at a 52 week high after the company reported quarterly profits and revenues that beat analyst forecasts.

The company reported fourth-quarter 2011 revenue was $850.0 million, up 7.5% from the fourth quarter 2010. This exceeded analyst forecasts of $841.9 million. Adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations attributable to Diebold, net of tax, in the fourth quarter 2011 were $1.40 per share, up $.67 per share from the fourth quarter 2010. This easily exceeded analyst forecasts of $.84 per share.

The company also declared a first-quarter cash dividend of 28.5 cents per share on all common shares. The dividend is payable on Monday, March 5, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Monday, Feb. 20. The new cash dividend, which represents $1.14 per share on an annual basis is up 1.8 percent over the cash dividend paid in 2011. This marks the company’s 59th consecutive annual dividend increase.

“We closed 2011 on a winning note with strong performance in the fourth quarter,” said Thomas W. Swidarski, Diebold president and chief executive officer.  ”We delivered on the commitments we made in several key areas, including revenue and earnings growth, free cash flow and fourth-quarter profitability in EMEA.  Our strategy to leverage our capabilities in services, software and innovation is beginning to pay dividends, and is meeting the needs of our rapidly evolving markets.

“In addition, Diebold delivered significant growth in revenue and generated more than $250 million in free cash flow* during the fourth quarter,” Swidarski continued.  ”Our global financial self-service orders grew 17 percent during the quarter, with growth in every region in the world. The North America market continued to grow at an impressive rate, as demand remains strong and an increasing number of financial institutions are seeing the benefits of our integrated services offering.”

Swidarski concluded, “As we look to 2012, I am encouraged by how our financial self-service business is growing, and we are developing new innovations to help drive further growth.  In addition, we continue to invest in repositioning our security business to return to growth in the second half of the year.  We will once again step up our R&D investments in new solutions in 2012 that will help financial institutions reduce their operating expenses while attracting new customers.”

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Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.