Blackbaud Inc. said Monday it posted solid increases in revenue and earnings in the fourth quarter as demand grew for its new software products and continued for its main product lines.

The Daniel Island-based maker of specialized software for nonprofit organizations said its net income in the three months ended Dec. 31 totaled $8.6 million, or 19 cents a share, up 39 percent from $6.2 million, or 14 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 15 percent to $49.6 million from $42.9 million a year earlier.

"The fourth quarter was a solid finish to a successful year in which the company exceeded each of its key revenue and profitability targets," Blackbaud Chief Executive Officer Marc Chardon said in a prepared statement.

Chardon noted that for all of 2006, the company's main product lines saw a 10 percent increase in sales, while sales of its newer products jumped more than 40 percent. Along with the recent acquisition of a pair of competitors, he said, Blackbaud is "optimistic" about its outlook for 2007. For the full year, Blackbaud reported earnings of $30.5 million, or 68 cents a share, down 8 percent from $33.3 million, or 72 cents a share, in 2005. The dip resulted largely from a one-time tax gain the company reported in the second quarter of 2005. Income from operations, before interest expense and income taxes, totaled $47.7 million, up 4 percent from $45.7 million in 2005.

Despite the dip in net earnings, Blackbaud posted a near-tripling in its cash holdings in 2006, ending the year with $67.8 million compared with $22.7 million at the end of the previous year. Timothy V. Williams, the company's chief financial officer, said that cushion gives the company the means to seek new avenues of growth through acquisitions. Last month, Blackbaud said it was paying $60 million in cash to buy two private companies, Cambridge, Mass.-based Target Software Inc. and Target Analysis Group Inc. Wall Street punished Blackbaud's shares after that deal was announced Jan. 17, knocking 9.8 percent off the stock price in one day.

The stock has made up some ground since then but closed Monday at $23.23, down 20 cents, or 0.9 percent, for the day. It remains about 16 percent below its all-time closing high of $27.77 a share, set on Nov. 16 but is still trading at nearly three times its closing price of $8.55 on its first day of public trading in July 2004.