Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) shares lost 67 cents, to $77.11 on the release of fourth-quarter and year-end results. Total revenue decreased 7% for the fourth quarter to $915.1 million. For the fiscal year, total revenue increased 7% to $4.0 billion. Oasis Outsourcing Group Holdings, L.P., acquired in December 2018, contributed approximately 4% to the growth in total revenue for the fiscal year.
For the fourth quarter, net income and diluted earnings per share decreased 4% and 5%, respectively, to $220.7 million and $0.61 per share, respectively. For the fiscal year, net income and diluted earnings per share each increased 6% to $1.1 billion and $3.04 per share, respectively.
CEO Martin Mucci commented, "Fiscal 2020 was on track to be a solid year, reflecting growth across our business. As we began the fourth quarter, COVID-19 caused worldwide business shutdowns directly affecting small and medium-sized businesses, which impacted our business sales and financial performance. Since the end of April, we have seen sequential improvement in our key business metrics across our lines of business."
Paychex’s financial position as of May 31, 2020 remained strong with cash, restricted cash, and total corporate investments of $1.0 billion. Total short-term and long-term borrowings, net of debt issuance costs, were $801.9 million as of May 31, 2020.
"Our positive cash flows," the company’s news release continued, "have historically allowed us to support our business and to pay substantial dividends to our stockholders. We currently anticipate that cash, restricted cash, and total corporate investments as of May 31, 2020, along with projected operating cash flows and available short-term financing, will support our business operations, capital purchases, share repurchases, and dividend payments for the foreseeable future".
