Metavante Corp.'s first-quarter operating profits surged 56% from a year earlier, to $28.2 million, on the strength of acquisitions and cost-cutting, according to its corporate parent, Marshall & Ilsley Corp. of Milwaukee.
Revenue at Metavante, the nation's No. 3 provider of core processing services and software, climbed 40%, to $286.5 million, M&I said Tuesday.
It made seven acquisitions, including the Montvale, N.J., electronic funds transfer network operator NYCE Corp. and several vendors involved in check imaging.
Frank R. Martire, Metavante's president and chief executive officer, said on a conference call with analysts that the growth was "pretty well balanced" between acquisitions and internal growth.
In the first quarter Metavante completed 20 cross-sales to its customers, he said. "We had some good organic growth in the first quarter."
The unit's profits grew 32% from the fourth quarter, when most of last year's purchases were digested, and revenue grew 2%. Expenses declined 3%, to $239.8 million.
Anthony Davis, an analyst at BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc.'s Ryan Beck & Co. Inc., said Metavante's acquisitions position it for even stronger growth in the future.
He noted that it provides both consulting and processing services in image exchange. "Right now it is only a miniscule part of their business. Metavante's growth is ahead of it."
