Global commercial fuel card and business payments company Fleetcor Technologies Inc. on Tuesday reported total revenue for the fourth quarter grew 30% year-over-year to $802 million. Net income increased to $225 million for the quarter, a 7% year-over-year rise.
Fleetcor’s adjusted earnings per share (EPS) reached $3.72 for the fourth quarter, increasing 24% year-over-year from $3.01. The company’s retention rate reached 93%.
“Our fourth-quarter results came in ahead of our expectations we gave in November, for both revenue and adjusted earnings per share,” CFO Charles Freund said in a statement. “Across the board, our businesses showed momentum and ended the year on a strong note. We also aggressively used capital to buy back shares, given the low stock price when compared with our growth outlook.”
The Atlanta-based company reported fuel transaction revenue of $316 million, a 22% year-over-year increase. Revenue per fuel transaction grew 15% in Q4 compared to 2020, at $2.72 per transaction.
Throughout 2021, Fleetcor (NYSE: FLT) gained 175,000 new customers, said Ron Clarke, CEO at Fleetcor, during the fourth-quarter earnings call. He called the fourth-quarter results a “good finish” to 2021, which he called a “comeback year” after the pandemic.
Clarke said the company is investing in and embracing electric vehicles as part of its fuel card business. He called the EV economics “roughly in line” with its other fuel card business. The company is also pivoting to digitize fuel card sales.
2022 fiscal year outlook
“Our current outlook is for the company to return to its normal growth cadence, with sales growth of 20%, organic growth of 9% to 11%, and adjusted EPS growth in the midteens. Volumes and revenue are expected to build throughout the year, as we continue to benefit from our growth investments and acquisitions. We do expect expenses to be higher than in 2021, as we operate at more normalized levels, but we will continue to manage them in line with the revenue growth outlook,” Freund said.
Fleetcor expects adjusted net income per diluted share to fall between $3.45 and $3.55 for the first quarter of 2022.
Link to full report
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