TSYS' strong fourth quarter gets a tax-cut boost

Right on the heels of completing its acquisition of merchant services provider Cayan, Total System Services reported substantial revenue and income increases Tuesday in its fourth-quarter earnings presentation.

Net revenue, which excludes reimbursable items, interchange and payment network fees, was $870 million, an increase of 10.8%, TSYS said.

Total revenue was $1.3 billion, an increase of 12.5% over a year earlier, TSYS said. In addition, a $135.9 million tax benefit from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act helped produce a net income to TSYS common shareholders of $242.2 million, an increase the company measured at 227.5%.

TSYS also reported total revenue for 2017 at $4.9 billion, an increase of 18.2%.

"2017 proved to be a truly exceptional year for our company," M. Troy Woods, chairman, president and CEO of TSYS, said in a press release. "We delivered outstanding financial results, continued to expand our merchant business with the Cayan acquisition announcement and finished the year having met or exceeded our goals."

With Cayan under the TSYS umbrella, the company has its sights set on moving into more retail payment processing. The company has serviced small businesses in the past, but its strengths were firmly in processing for various health-related verticals, salons, education and charitable organizations.

When combined with other partnerships that Columbus, Ga.-based TSYS had established with independent sales organizations, the Cayan move was a signal that the company understood the need to become more diverse in serving its clients.

TSYS has also made strategic moves to bolster its in-house digital technology and sharpen its focus on digital products and services for card issuers.

"We expect the momentum of 2017 to carry over into 2018," Woods said. "We are projecting strong organic revenue growth as we remain laser focused on executing or strategic plan and delivering outstanding results."