Shares of Agilysys, Inc. (NASDAQ: AGYS), a distributor and reseller of enterprise computer technology solutions, climbed more than 8.6 percent after the company’s quarterly earnings conference call earlier this week. Agilysys reported fourth quarter revenues of $206 million, a 74.7 percent year-over-year increase, but short of analyst estimates. Adjusted fourth quarter earnings per share of $0.04 were up more than 80 percent from the previous year.

During the conference call, Agilysys announced quarter revenues and earnings, but noted lower gross margins on sales. According to management, the lower quarterly gross margins were a result of changes in the company’s product mix, pricing agreements and acquisitions. All of these factors led to lower-than-historically reported revenues for the company. Sales, on the other hand, increased 75 percent compared to last year, which excludes a net loss of $0.03 per share from a business divestiture.

Going forward, Agilysys intends to increase the size of the company’s software business to drive margin variability and also introduce changes in its customer and product mix. In addition to these strategies, the company will implement broad-based cost reductions and evaluate under-performing assets to bolster profitability. For fiscal year 2009, Agilysys expects total revenue to reach $900 million, or earnings per share of $0.35.

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