By Juan Lagorio
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Automatic Data Processing Inc
ADP also raised its fiscal 2010 revenue forecast, and its shares rose 1.35 percent to $41.20 in premarket trading.
Net income from continuing operations climbed to $284 million, or 56 cents a share, in the fiscal first quarter, ended September 30, from $278 million, or 54 cents a share, a year earlier.
Earnings beat analysts' average forecast of 50 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue fell 4 percent to $2.1 billion, while costs decreased 5 percent to $1.7 billion.
In the United States, where ADP processes one in every six payroll payments, revenue from the payroll and payroll tax filing business decreased 7 percent. The number of employees on payrolls of ADP clients fell 6.5 percent on a same-store basis as American firms cut hundreds of thousands of jobs.
"Certain market indicators suggest that the U.S. economy has reached the trough of the downturn and has begun to stabilize," Chief Executive Gary Butler said in a statement. "However, the economic landscape is still challenging and the timing of the inevitable recovery remains uncertain."
The company raised its revenue forecast for fiscal 2010. It now estimates revenue will fall 1 percent to 2 percent, compared with a previous forecast for a decline of 2 percent to 4 percent.
It forecast 2010 earnings per share of $2.34 to $2.39. Three months ago it forecast $2.29 to $2.39.
(Reporting by Juan Lagorio; Editing by Derek Caney and John Wallace)
