CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) _ Benefitfocus Inc. (BNFT) on Monday reported fourth-quarter net income of $3.1 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.

On a per-share basis, the Charleston, South Carolina-based company said it had profit of 4 cents. Earnings, adjusted for stock option expense and asset impairment costs, were 18 cents per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 5 cents per share.

The human resources software provider posted revenue of $76.2 million in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $74.4 million.

For the current quarter ending in April, Benefitfocus expects its results to range from a loss of 16 cents per share to a loss of 10 cents per share.

The company said it expects revenue in the range of $59 million to $61 million for the fiscal first quarter.

Benefitfocus expects full-year revenue in the range of $254 million to $260 million.

Benefitfocus shares have dropped nearly 2% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $14.24, a climb of 23% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on BNFT at https://www.zacks.com/ap/BNFT

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