Despite 4Q loss, Bottomline finishes FY in the black

Bottomline Technologies would have had the potential for a higher "core net income" if they ignored GAAP factors.

 Bottomline Technologies posted a net loss of $1.2 million, or 3 cents a share, in its last quarter of the fiscal year ending June 30. That would have been a gain if it not for several factors, including $3.5 million in equity compensation for its executives, the company reported in its earnings release on Thursday.

 But for the fiscal year, the Portsmouth-based financial software firm was a positive $1.7 million, or a nickel a share. Both figures lagged far behind last year's net income, but that was mainly because of a $27 million tax accounting windfall (taxes that the company thought it might owe, but determined that it didn't) in fiscal 2011.

In terms of revenue, Bottomline reported $61.4 million for the quarter and $224.3 million for the fiscal year, increases of 13 and 18 percent respectively. The big increase was in subscriptions and transaction revenue: $28 million for the quarter, a 64 percent increase, and $85 million for the fiscal year, a 54 percent increase.

"During the quarter we accelerated the execution against our strategic plan to deliver more of our capabilities via the cloud and drive a higher portion of our revenues through a subscription and transaction revenue model," said Rob Eberle, Bottomline president and CEO. The company emphasized that it would have made a profit for the quarter, if it ignored some Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) such as amortization of intangible assets ($4.7 million), equity-based compensation ($3.5 million), acquisition-related expenses and restructuring expenses (about a million dollars for each). If so, the company's "core net income" would be $9 million for the quarter, which is about $1 million less than last time.  Similarly, the company would have a "core net income" of $35 million for the last fiscal year if it ignored the same factors (including $13.8 million in equity compensation), just slightly behind its core net income from the previous fiscal year.