Wright Express 3Q earnings plunge on lower sales

Wright Express 3rd-quarter earnings plunge on lower sales to existing customers

• On 3:00 pm EDT, Wednesday October 28, 2009

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Wright Express Corp., a payment processor for commercial and government vehicle fleets, said Wednesday its third-quarter earnings plunged as its customers continued to curb spending and use less credit.

Wright Express charge cards are used by to buy fuel and maintenance services for about 4.6 million vehicles. The company reported net income of $23.4 million, or 60 cents per share, compared with $72.3 million, or $1.82 per share, in the same quarter a year ago.

Revenue sank to $85.9 million from $107.7 million. Revenue from payment processing sank to $59.9 million from $83.7 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of 56 cents per share on $80.9 million in revenue.

Operating income at Wright Express dipped to $50.3 million from $54.1 million.

The company said new business helped offset some of the sales losses across existing customers. Still, it said its customers aren't yet seeing signs of economic improvement.

Wright Express also issued a fourth-quarter earnings outlook within range of Wall Street expectations and raised its full-year forecast.

For the fourth quarter, the company expects adjusted earnings per share of 50 cents to 55 cents. Analysts project income of 51 cents per share.

For all of 2009, Wright Express predicts adjusted net income of $2.12 to $2.17 per share. Analysts expect $2.05 per share.

Shares dropped $1.48, or 4.9 percent, to $28.52 in afternoon trading. The stock has ranged from $8.21 to $32.14 over the past year.

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