DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Affiliated Computer Services Inc. (ACS) posted a 13% rise in fiscal third-quarter net income as the outsourcing and information-services company saw sales and margins improve.

Amid the recession, outsourcing services remain in high demand as businesses look for ways to cut back on spending. A broad product pipeline, which includes consulting among other programs, has insulated Affiliated Computer from a broad downturn in information-technology spending, allowing the company to snap up smaller companies and hire new employees. Affiliated Computer serves the commercial and government sectors through long-term contracts.

For the quarter ended March 31, Affiliated Computer said net income rose to $93.2 million, or 95 cents a share, from $82.6 million, or 85 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding costs for a production initiative, earnings increased to $1 a share from 91 cents.

Revenue grew 4.4% to $1.61 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters projected earnings of 93 cents a share on revenue of $1.65 billion.

Gross margin rose to 12% from 11.6%.

"Our business demonstrated remarkable performance in the current economic climate," said Lynn Blodgett, president and chief executive. "We signed a record level of new business, we grew revenues and profit, and we generated the highest level of adjusted earnings per share in our history."

Shares rose 3.4% to $50 in after-hours trading and are up 5.3% so far this year.

-By Katherine E. Wegert and Lauren Pollock, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5294; katherine.wegert@dowjones.com