Avaloq, which provides software and services to the banking industry, has had a pretax profit of 36.3 million Swiss francs in the first six months of the year, 257 percent more than in the same period of 2016, the company said in a statement today.

The comparison is however hardly comparable to last year’s, because it presented detailed half-year figures for the first time.

Investments Affected 2016

Sales added 3 percent to 253.1 million francs. Operating costs were down 8 percent. The margin increased as a consequence, adding 10.2 percentage points to 14.3 percent. The liquidity amounted to 62 million francs.

The figures show that Avaloq wasn’t doing too well a year ago, after the company had invested substantially, developing and taking over outsourcing centers.

Pay Off Time

Arizon, the construction of a new IT platform for Raiffeisen Switzerland also required significant resources. Having installed a number of large software packages, the company now seems in better shape again. Warburg Pincus, the U.S. investor, in March bought a 35 percent stake in Avaloq.

Avaloq and Warburg Pincus agree to further build the company with a view to possibly launch it on the Swiss stock exchange further down the line. Avaloq is in a good position to use the growth opportunities available, said CEO Francisco Fernandez.