By Marleen Kaesebier
(Reuters) -Banking software group Temenos’ chief financial officer said on Wednesday “wobbles” over U.S. tariffs that caused deals to be delayed in the first quarter are over, as the company reported second-quarter results that beat analyst expectations.
The news sparked a 22% surge in the group’s shares at market open on Wednesday. By 0741 GMT shares were up 16.4% at 68.7 Swiss francs per share, on track for their best day in more than a year.
“There are still tariff discussions, but I think banks, especially (those) printing very good results, have adapted this in their daily business,” Takis Spiliopoulos told Reuters.
After some worry and anxiety ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariff announcement on April 2, Temenos caught up on delayed deals quickly and has seen its banking customers going back to normal in the second quarter, Spiliopoulos said.
On Tuesday after market close, Temenos reported adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of 111.6 million dollars in the quarter, above the 81.2 million dollars predicted by analysts in a company-provided poll.
After what Baader Helvea analysts called “a perfect quarter for Temenos”, the Swiss company also raised its full-year guidance, now expecting EBIT growth of at least 9% at constant currency from at least 5% before.
“This beat and raise should help to boost investor confidence and trigger a rerating of the shares,” Vontobel analyst Michael Foeth said.
Spiliopoulos said the strong quarter, particularly across Europe and the Americas, “more than compensated” for a slow start to the year.
While other Swiss businesses are also facing headwinds from a strong Swiss franc this quarter, Temenos, though headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, reports in U.S. dollars.
Spiliopoulos said he is therefore not worried about the impact of currency moves on the firm, which sees a very small portion of its revenues and costs denominated in Swiss francs. Temenos has profited from currency effects this quarter, he said.
“We clearly have a benefit from reporting in dollars… so overall, we had a slight positive impact of about $1 million in the second quarter from FX,” Spiliopoulos said.
(Reporting by Marleen Kaesebier in Gdansk; Editing by Jan Harvey)
