Fiserv’s share price collapse last week may well have triggered concern at the IDA, which has provided significant financial support to its Irish operations, notably its research and development facility in Nenagh, Co Tipperary.
Investors in the Milwaukee-based fintech, which runs back-end technology for banks and payment networks, saw its share price slump 44 per cent last Wednesday following disastrous third quarter results, wiping $30 billion off the stock. It is down about two-thirds over the past year.
Fiserv chief executive Michael Lyons warned of a steep drop in the company’s growth trajectory and its profits.
Lyons was appointed earlier this year to replace Frank Bisignano, who is now part of the Trump administration, managing the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration.
READ MORE
Bisignano was forced to sell his stake in the company over a number of months this year, netting him and his family roughly $560 million for their holdings. The stock was sold before the dizzying decline in Fiserv’s share price.
Most people in Ireland might know Fiserv as the shirt sponsor of All Ireland hurling champions Tipperary. A new jersey was launched last week featuring the Clover brand, the company’s point-of-sale platform.
As recently as June, it agreed to acquire the remaining 49.9 per cent of AIB Merchant Services that it didn’t own. This was a joint venture with AIB set up in 2007.
It is also supposed to be consolidating its European headquarter operations here, with the prospect of more jobs in Ireland. Its website on Monday was showing 26 vacancies here for a range of roles.
Latest accounts for Dublin-based Fiserve Solutions (Europe) Ltd show it had on average 469 employees in the 12 months to the end of 2023, down from 509 a year earlier.
Its payroll costs amounted to €34.5 million – an average cost per employee of €73,500.
Some 42 staff were employed by its Irish parent, First Data Global Services Ltd, with payroll costs amounting to just under €4.5 million or about €107,000 per employee.
That’s a lot of money flowing into the local economy.
The IDA will be hoping that Lyons can get the company back on track and that last week’s Halloween horror show doesn’t become a death spiral for the fintech.
