June 25 (Reuters) -

HR software firm Paychex ( PAYX ) forecast full-year revenue

and profit above Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, but its

$4.1 billion acquisition of rival Paycor dragged down

fourth-quarter profits.

Shares of the company were down 9%.

High interest rates and a volatile macro economy have

pressured growth at human capital management firms such as

Paychex ( PAYX ) that depend on small and midsize businesses.

This has

led to increasing consolidation

within the payroll industry as enterprises look to use cash

reserves to grow operations.

Paychex ( PAYX ) bought payroll processing firm Paycor in

January, looking to broaden its artificial intelligence

capabilities and consolidate its market share.

The Paycor integration has expanded Paychex's ( PAYX ) total

addressable market and opened up new cross-sell opportunities,

though it also contributed to higher costs during the quarter,

the company said on Wednesday.

Paychex's ( PAYX ) management solutions segment's revenue rose

12% in the quarter, but excluding Paycor, the growth was just

3%.

The company also reported a 22% drop in its fourth-quarter

earnings per share.

"The strategic investments we continued to make in AI,

technology and our customer experience played a significant role

in our growth in revenue and profitability, contributing to

strong adjusted operating margin expansion this year," Chief

Executive Officer John Gibson said.

Paychex ( PAYX ) expects full-year revenue to grow between 16.5%

and 18.5%, compared with analysts' estimate of 14.31%, according

to data compiled by LSEG.

It also forecast adjusted earnings per share to rise 8.5% to

10.5%, compared with estimates of 6.8%.

Total revenue for the quarter ended May 31 rose 10% to

$1.43 billion, slightly below estimates of $1.44 billion.

Adjusted earnings per share of $1.19 in the quarter met

expectations.