Pitney Bowes revenues rise in third quarter

STAMFORD — Technology firm Pitney Bowes reported Tuesday growing returns for the past quarter, boosted by rising demand for its shipping services.

Thirdquarter returns totaled about $790 million, up 4 percent year over year. In the same period, the company incurred an approximately $3 million loss. The bottom line reflected a debt paydown of $175 million, a $9 million payout in dividends to shareholders and the repurchasing of $5 million in shares.

“This was the strongest revenue performance for the company in some time and is affirmation that the capabilities we are building are in demand,” CEO and President Marc Lautenbach said in a statement. “Six percent revenue growth (on an adjusted basis) puts us on track to grow for the year, which will be our third consecutive year of growth. At the same time, we continued to invest in our parcel network to accommodate our substantial growth in shipping volumes.”

Following the release of the results, Pitney shares closed Tuesday at $5.28, up about 7 percent from their Monday finish.

Leading the gains, Pitney’s commerce services business increased 15 percent year over year, to $410 million, benefiting from growing demand from ecommerce clients. The 2017 acquisition of parcellogistics specialist Newgistics has driven the division’s growth.

In August, the company announced it would sell its software-solutions business to software firm Syncsort for $700 million, a deal that would mark one of its largest ever.

Proceeds from the sale, which is expected to close by the end of the year, would be mainly used to pay down debt.

Last month, the company was hit by a “ransomware” cyber attack. Many customers reported problems using the company’s mailing products.

“At this point, virtually all operations are up and running and no data has been compromised,” the company said in a statement. “The company has insurance to cover these types of events and expects a significant portion of any profit impact, including the profit associated with any loss of revenue due to the ransomware attack, to ultimately be covered by insurance.”

Before a rebound in results last year, Pitney had struggled in the previous few years with lackluster earnings, as it sought to diversify its operations.

Pitney officials had considered selling the company, but improving returns convinced them last year to keep the firm independent.