Ebix Reports 54 Percent Increase, Record $1.08 Per Share

Atlanta-based Ebix Inc., an international provider of software services and IT solutions to the insurance industry, reported financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended Sept. 30.

Ebix’s total revenue for the quarter rose four percent to $5.9 million, compared to $5.7 million during the third quarter of 2004. Ebix’s operating income rose 13 percent to $1.1 million in the 2005 third quarter, compared to operating income of $1.0 million in the third quarter of 2004.

The company also reported a 25 percent increase and record quarterly net income of $1.2 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2005, versus net income of $0.98 million, or $0.31 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2004.

Q3 ’05 results were based on 3.1 million weighted average diluted shares outstanding during the period, approximately 0.1 million fewer than the comparable three-month period in 2004. The modest decrease in the weighted average reflects an initial benefit from the company’s repurchase of 200,000 shares, at $13.50 per share, in late April 2005.

For the first nine months of 2005, Ebix’s total revenue rose 26 percent to $17.9 million, compared to $14.3 million in the first nine months of 2004.

Ebix’s operating income rose 54 percent to $3.5 million in the first nine months of 2005, compared to operating income of $2.3 million in the first nine months of 2004. The company’s net income rose 58 percent to $3.4 million, or $1.08 per diluted share, in the first nine months of 2005, compared to net income of $2.1 million, or $0.70 per diluted share, in the first nine months of 2004. Results for the first nine months of 2005 were based on 3.1 million weighted average diluted shares outstanding, compared to 3.1 million weighted average diluted shares outstanding in the year ago period.