Flat Quarter, Year for Fair Isaac

Fair Isaac Corp. (NYSE: FIC) reported fiscal fourth quarter net income of $28.2 million, up more than 33 percent from the same period a year ago, on revenues of $207.2 million, little changed from the fiscal fourth quarter of 2006.

The fourth quarter this year saw a one-time $7.3 million tax benefit, restructuring costs of $1.6 million, and a $3.8 million after-tax charge for resolving a lawsuit related to the company’s insurance unit.

For fiscal year 2007, Fair Isaac saw revenues of $822.2 million, down from $825.4 million in the previous year. Net income was $104.7 million, compared with $103.5 million.

Company executives said during a conference call with analysts they plan to focus on eight countries worldwide where returns look most promising, including Australia, China, Germany, and Japan.

Competition for Fair Isaac’s well-known FICO credit score has been heating up from the Vantage Score product launched by the three largest credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, executives said.

In addition, the large credit card companies in the U.S. have developed some in-house consumer quality credit analysis, reducing the need for Fair Isaac’s product. 

The company reported generally flat results for its major divisions. The Strategy Machines Solutions division saw revenues decline to $106.1 million in the fourth quarter from $110.6 million, though there was a rise in revenues “from collections and recovery products,” the company announced.

The Scoring Solutions division saw a 1 percent rise in fourth quarter revenues due to revenues from risk scoring services at the credit reporting agencies.

Minneapolis-based Fair Isaac provides data analytics to automate risk, marketing and compliance decisions.