Another of the top global contract research organizations (CROs), Parexel reported strong fourth quarter revenues after the bell Wednesday, rising 32.6% to a record $272.2 million compared with $205.2 million in the prior year period.

In early morning trading Thursday, Parexel’s shares were up 14.5% to $33.24.

Including the positive net impact from certain tax items, net income for the quarter more than doubled to $25 million, or $0.43 per diluted share, compared with net income of $10.4 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2007.

On a segment basis, consolidated service revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2008 was $212 million in Clinical Research Services, $33.3 million in Consulting and Medical Communications Services, and $26.9 million in Perceptive Informatics.

New business wins and backlog growth were strong in the fourth quarter. The company reported a year-ending backlog of $2.059 billion, an increase of 36.6% compared with backlog reported for fiscal year 2007.

Josef H. von Rickenbach, Parexel's chairman and CEO stated, "The fourth quarter's financial results capped a strong fiscal year for Parexel. We posted record service revenue in the fourth quarter, and achieved full year service revenue growth of 30%, or approximately 19% on a same-store constant currency adjusted basis. All business segments contributed to the positive full-year results. We also delivered on our commitment to improve profitability, increasing operating margin to 9.9% in the quarter, and by 120 basis points to 9% for the full fiscal year, while concurrently making strategic investments to help meet our longer term goals."