ADT Corp. 1st-Quarter Net Rises 13% on Higher Monitoring Services Revenue

       By Melodie Warner 

    ADT Corp.'s (ADT) fiscal first-quarter earnings rose 13% as the security-services company increased its revenue from monitoring services and added more customers.

    The company also agreed to buy back about $600 million of its common stock from Credit Suisse International under an accelerated share-repurchase agreement.

    Known for its electronic-security systems, ADT was spun out of industrial conglomerate Tyco International Ltd. (TYC) in October. The vast majority of ADT's revenue is recurring, meaning it comes from existing customers who pay monthly fees for monitoring services. To increase recurring revenue, the company has been broadening its home-management services to include remote-access features such as adjusting thermostats, unlocking doors or keeping tabs on children at home through live video feeds.

    For the quarter ended Dec. 28, ADT reported a profit of $105 million, or 44 cents a share, up from $93 million, or 39 cents, a year earlier. Year-earlier earnings were 41 cents a share excluding items such as integration costs. Revenue increased 1.8% to $809 million.

    Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently forecast per-share earnings of 43 cents on revenue of $817 million.

    Operating margin rose to 23% from 22.1%.

    The company added 257,000 customers during the quarter, pushing its total customer base up 0.5% to 6.43 million. The customer attrition rate climbed to 13.8% from 13% the year before.

    Recurring revenue rose 5.1% to $744 million, accounting for 92% of total revenue in the quarter, as average revenue per customer increased 4.7%.

    Nonrecurring revenue dropped 25% to $65 million as the company's mix of newly installed systems continued to shift toward more ADT-owned systems.

    Shares closed Tuesday at $46.51 and were inactive premarket. The stock has gained 11% over the past three months.

    Write to Melodie Warner at