Revenues for the fourth quarter 2000 were $35.9 million, up 47.6% from $24.3 million for the fourth quarter of 1999. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2000 was $4.3 million, or $0.24 per share on a diluted basis, compared to $4.6 million for the quarter ended December 31, 1999 or $0.24 per share on a diluted basis.
The 1999 fourth quarter included a $1.5 million or an $0.08 per share benefit related to changes in the tax rules for net operating losses and the retroactive extension of the research tax credit. Factoring out this tax benefit, earnings per share for the 2000 quarter were about 50% higher than the corresponding quarter in the previous year.
Transaction processing revenues were $29.2 million during the 2000 fourth quarter, compared to $19.3 million in the same quarter of 1999, an increase of 51.3%. Software revenues were $3.0 million in both the 2000 and 1999 fourth quarters. Consulting services revenues were $3.7 million in the 2000 fourth quarter, compared to $2.0 million in the same quarter of 1999, an 84.8% increase.
Revenues for the year ended December 31, 2000 were $121.6 million, up 35.5% from $89.7 million in 1999. Net income for the year 2000 was $13.7 million, or $0.74 per share on a diluted basis, compared with $10.1 million, or $0.56 per share on a diluted basis, for the year prior.
For the year 2000, transaction processing revenues were $94.7 million, compared to $63.3 million in 1999, an increase of 49.5%, while software revenues were $13.4 million for the year, flat in comparison with software revenues for 1999. Consulting services revenues were $13.4 million for the year 2000, compared to $13.1 million in 1999, an increase of 2.6%.
Pamela D.A. Reeve, Lightbridge’s president and chief executive officer, commented, We could not be more pleased with the performance of the company this quarter, topping off our best fiscal year ever. The transaction business turned in record revenues, benefiting from a particularly robust and competitive retail season for our clients. At the same time, our operating performance for the year and fourth quarter was outstanding in terms of uptime and turnaround time. We added clients, such as BCP Telecomunicações in Brazil and B Digital USA, which represent forward-looking business, and continued to expand our business with existing clients. Although it is early, we are very pleased with client acceptance of FraudBuster 5.0, our integrated next generation fraud solution, which is now deployed in the US, Europe and Latin America, with significant performance improvements documented from the field. Our consulting business showed progress during the year, recovering from the Y2K slowdown that inhibited that business early in the year. The software business was in line with our expectations for the quarter and the year.
Reeve continued, Looking forward, while we recognize the near term uncertainty in the sector and the economy generally may affect our business, we remain encouraged about the year 2001 and continue to expect solid growth year over year. We are extremely excited about the potential of our combination with Corsair Communications, Inc., expected in early February, and look forward to stronger positioning of the company as a strategic applications provider for our carrier clients. We plan to have a conference call after the close of the market on February 14 to discuss the combined entity.
