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Transaction processor Total System Services Inc., also known as TSYS, says it generated 2008 net income of $250.1 million, up 5.3% from $237.4 million the previous year. Revenue totaled $1.94 billion, up 7.8% from $1.8 billion. Last year was the first full year for TSYS as a standalone public company since Synovus Financial Corp. spun it off in 2007 (CardLine, 7/24/07). For the fourth quarter, Columbus, Ga.-based TSYS had net income of $66.3 million, up 45.1% from $45.7 million for the same period a year earlier. Fourth-quarter revenue totaled $493.4 million, up 7.6% from $458.5 million. By business unit, Merchant Services, which includes processing services for merchants, earned $298.8 million in revenue last year, up 2.3% from $292.1 million in 2007. TSYS says Merchant Services processed 1.24 billion point-of-sale transactions last year, up slightly from 1.23 billion the previous year. Global Services, which includes issuing and acquirer services for international companies, generated $318.5 million in 2008 revenue up 25.6% from $253.5 million. North American Services, which includes issuing services for financial institutions in the United States, Canada and Mexico, had revenue of $1.35 billion last year, up 4.7% from $1.29 billion in 2007. TSYS says it expects overall revenue this year to grow by no more than 2%, to between $1.94 billion to $1.98 billion. It also expects net income to stay flat at best or possibly drop 3%, to between $243 million to $250 million. "Certainly we are not totally thrilled with this," Philip W. Tomlinson, TSYS chairman and CEO, told analysts during a conference call yesterday. "This is below what the TSYS norm has historically been but in today's world, when you peel the onion back, we feel really good about these numbers and are excited about where we think we're going to be at."
