Broadridge sales soar following merger; profits up slightly

Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. reported Wednesday its profit edged slightly higher in the July-September period from a year ago even as sales soared.

The Lake Success-based supplier of proxy statements, annual reports and other financial documents to investors on behalf of public companies said its net earnings were $33.7 million, up less than 1 percent from $33.5 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, 2015.

Sales in the quarter totaled $895 million, a year-over-year gain of 51 percent that executives attributed to the purchase of another document supplier in July.

Broadridge bought the North American Customer Communications business of Kansas City, Missouri-based DST Systems Inc. for $410 million this summer. The acquisition was responsible for $272 million in sales in Broadridge’s fiscal first quarter and expanded the company’s reach to more than 75 percent of shareholders’ mailboxes in the United States and Canada.

“Broadridge delivered a solid first quarter,” said company CEO Richard J. Daly. “We reported strong revenue growth, largely driven by the acquisition of NACC,” he said, adding that “other ongoing product initiatives and our strong sales pipeline” give Broadridge “multiple paths to drive growth.”

Broadridge employs about 2,000 people locally, many of them at facilities in Edgewood.

The company also said that its purchase of M&O Systems Inc., a small financial services firm in Manhattan, would cost $25 million. The deal was announced last week but its size wasn’t disclosed. M&O provides support services to stock brokerages and investment banks. It employs 40 people.

Broadridge shares fell $3.53, or 5 percent, to close at $62.15 on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday. In the past 12 months the shares are up 8.7 percent.