3d-quarter results fueled a rally in bank tech stocks.

Stocks of financial systems firms advanced last week, joining broader technology issues that announced robust thirdquarter earnings.

Technology stocks in general were boosted by quarterly earnings reports that met, or as in the case of industry giant International Business Machines Corp., exceeded analysts' expec- tations.

Outsourcer Electronic Data Systems Corp. said last week it recorded a 13% increase in net income and a 23% boost in overall revenues.

EDS said that in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, net income totaled $216.4 million, compared with $191.6 million in the corresponding period last year.

Third-quarter revenues increased to $2.56 billion from $2.08 billion.

Earnings per share rose to 45 cents from 40 cents a year ago. Officials at Plano, Tex.-based EDS, a unit of General Motors Corp., said revenues from non. General Motors business rose 30% from 1993 third-quarter figures.

Payments processor First Data Corp. last week reported that third-quarter earnings per share were up 20% to 48 cents, on net income of $54 million, compared with 40 cents per share, on net income of $4.5 million, a year earlier.

Officials at Hackensack, N.J.based First Data said the increased net income came substantially from continued growth in processing card accounts in the United States, as well as higher volumes at its payment instruments business and growth in its mutual fund processing business.

The firm's third-quarter revenues were $432 million, up 13% from the $381 million recorded in the same quarter in 1993.

"Our focus on financial-sector businesses has produced accelerating growth rates," said Ric Duques, First Data's chairman and chief executive.

A major rival to First Data in payments business, First Financial Management Corp,, said third-quarter revenues were up 21% to $536 million from $443 million in the year-earlier period.

Net income for the quarter increased 20%, to $40.6 million, up from $33.8 million earned in the third quarter of 1993. Earnings per share were 65 cents, compared with 54 cents for 1993, an increase of 20%.

Atlanta-based First Financial also announced last Friday that it had reached a definitive agreement with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark, N.J., to acquire Western Union Financial Services Inc., a unit of New Valley Corp. First Financial agreed to acquire Western Union for $893 million and to assume responsibility for its underfunded defined-benefit pension plan. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. had moved to block a previous deal that had not included the pension liabilities.

"First Financial is effectively balancing the dual role of positioning for the future while growing our current operations," said chairman and chief executive officer H. Patrick Thomas. "Clearly, the major event in the quarter was winning the bid for Western Union.

First Financial has strong financial resources, and we are committed to building this company -- both through internal marketing efforts and an aggressive acquisition program. I believe the next 12 months will reflect that commitment."

Bank software and systems integration firm Broadway & Seymour Inc. reported thirdquarter net income of $1.93 million, or 23 cents per share, on revenue of $32.3 million. The results compare with a third quarter 1993 loss of $655,000, or 8 cents per share, before a onetime, nonrecurring writeoff of $5.0 million on revenue of $19.5 million.

Broadway & Seymour chief executive officer William W. Neal said, "We are very pleased with the results for the quarter. which are attributable to strength in all business units.

It was our most balanced quarter since we became a public company in June 1992."

Mr. Neal also said that his company had consummated the previously announced acquisition of Micro/Resources Inc., a developer of commercial lending software.

Trust systems vendor and mutual fund administrator SEI Corp. said third-quarter revenues were $66.1 million, compared with $64.0 million for the corresponding quarter in 1993.

Net income was $4.9 million, compared with $4.3 million.

Earnings per share for the third quarter rose 19% to 25 cents from 21 cents in the corresponding quarter of 1993.

SEI officials said its trust and banking division reported revenues of $47.9 million. with operating profit of $13.7 million in the third quarter. versus $45.5 million and $11.2 million in the third quarter of 1993.

The Wayne, Pa.-based firm said that as part of its previously announced stock repurchase program, it bought back 125,000 shares in the third quarter at a cost of $2.3 million, bringing the year-to-date total to about 1.1 million shares for $24 million.

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