Cass information systems, inc. wraps up 2014 on a high note, posting
10% increase in 4th
quarter net income
St. louis--(business wire)--cass information systems, inc. (nasdaq: cass), the nation's leading provider of transportation, energy, telecom and environmental invoice payment and information services, reported fourth quarter 2014 net income of $5.8 million, 10.1% higher than the $5.3 million reported in the corresponding period of 2013. per share earnings were $.49 per diluted share, an 8.9% increase over the $.45 per diluted share reported in the final quarter of 2013. facility expense dollar volume* *includes energy, telecom and environmental 2014 4th quarter recap a 9.9% increase in transportation volume, mainly attributed to a large number of new customers plus heightened activity from core clients, fueled the earnings surge. conversely, quarterly dollar volume at the company’s facility expense operation was slightly lower than a year earlier – despite a high number of new customer wins as competitor consolidation in the energy sector continued to impair customer retention. operating expenses increased $0.6 million, or 2.8%, as cass continued to invest in staff and technology to support growth and secure new business. “the strong performance of the transportation payment processing group in the fourth quarter pushed cass into annual record earnings territory in 2014,” summarized eric h. brunngraber, cass president and chief executive officer. “also contributing to the record results was the stabilization of year over year net investment income as we continue to adjust to the low-interest rate environment.” 2014 earnings up 2% to $24 million, new all-time high for the year ended december 31, 2014, cass earned $2.06 per diluted share, 2.0% higher than the $2.02 it earned in the comparable period in 2013. net income was $24.0 million, 2.3% higher than in 2013. revenues rose 2.1%, from $114.8 million in 2013 to $117.2 million in 2014. operating expenses were up 1.6%, or $1.3 million, due to the reasons previously cited. cash dividend declared on january 26, 2015, the company’s board of directors declared a first quarter dividend of $.21 per share payable march 16, 2015 to shareholders of record march 5, 2015. cass has continuously paid regularly scheduled cash dividends since 1934. about cass information systems cass information systems is the leading provider of transportation, energy, telecom and environmental invoice payment and information services. the company, which has been involved in the payables services and information support business since 1956, disburses over $38 billion annually on behalf of customers from locations in st. louis, mo., columbus, ohio, boston, mass., greenville, s.c., wellington, kansas and jacksonville, fla. the support of cass commercial bank, founded in 1906, makes cass information systems unique in the industry. cass is part of the russell 2000® index. note to investors certain matters set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that are provided to assist in the understanding of anticipated future financial performance. however, such performance involves risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those in such statements. for a discussion of certain factors that may cause such forward-looking statements to differ materially from the company’s actual results, see the company’s reports filed from time to time with the securities and exchange commission including the company’s annual report on form 10-k for the year ended december 31, 2013. selected consolidated financial data the following table presents selected unaudited consolidated financial data (in thousands, except per share data) for the periods ended december 31, 2014 and 2013. total operating expenses -- -- -- --
