Payments processor Fidelity National Information Services, also known as FIS, reported a decline in second-quarter net earnings today, noting macroeconomic factors are weighing on the business.

Higher interest rates and foreign exchange issues are creating hurdles for the financial outlook, and inflationary pressures are impacting employee wages, FIS company executives said in a conference call today with analysts to discuss the results.

Specifically, recent interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve, and likely more to come, will affect the company’s variable debt, FIS Chief Financial Officer James “Woody” Woodall noted, saying the company is “obviously seeing some headwinds there.”

On the labor front, labor costs are putting upward pressure on expenses. “We are experiencing some wage inflation and employee attrition,” said Deputy CFO Erik Hoag.

FIS net earnings dipped 2% to $277 million for the second quarter, compared to the year-earlier quarter, even as revenue rose 7% to $3.7 billion, the company said in its earnings press release.

FIS lowered its earnings forecast for the year, citing the macroeconomic issues and two recent divestitures. For the second half of the year that could imply “potential slowing revenue growth,” analysts for financial firm Baird Equity Research noted in a report to investors.

FIS, which is based in Jacksonville, Florida, also announced Woodall is retiring and will be succeeded by Hoag in November.

Other payments companies, including rival Fiserv, have also noted the difficult economic climate in reporting second-quarter results. 

Smaller peers that reported second-quarter results this week may also have been showing strain from the environment. Paymentus reported a second-quarter net loss Wednesday despite a 28% increase in revenue.

By Lynne Marek on Aug 4, 2022
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