CGI third quarter profit up, as revenue slips; upgrades eyed
July 29 (Reuters) - Information systems and management consultants CGI Group Inc posted a 14 percent rise in third-quarter profit on lower revenue on Wednesday, and said it would invest in cyber security and in upgrades to make its business more productive.
The Montreal-based company - which won unwelcome attention for its role in the botched 2013 launch of healthcare.gov, the system underpinning U.S. President Barack Obama's landmark health reform - said it signed C$2.2 billion of contract awards in the period, down from the C$2.5 billion a year ago.
The company said net income rose to C$257.2 million, or 80 Canadian cents per share, in the three months to June 30, from C$225.1 million, or 71 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue slipped 4 percent to C$2.56 billion.
Analysts had on average expected CGI to earn 81 Canadian cents a share on revenue of C$2.65 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Its backlog of signed orders, an indicator of future sales, rose to C$19.7 billion, from C$18.8 billion a year earlier.
It will take a C$60 million pre-tax charge over the next six months for investments in cyber security, digitization of client processes and other upgrades.
"The time to restructure a business is when you are financially strong," CGI`s Chief Executive Michael Roach said in the earnings statement.
($1 = 0.6423 pounds) (Reporting by Alastair Sharp)