Swiss software provider Temenos delivered positive first quarter results as the takeover battle for the British software company Fidessa enters a critical phase.

An acquisition of Fidessa would give Temenos an enormous boost, pushing its turnover above 1 billion Swiss francs. However Temenos isn’t the only one interested in Fidessa, with two rival bidders now also entering the fray.

Temenos and the rival bidders for Fidessa have until April 20 to finalize their intentions, as finews.com has previously reported. Temenos declined to mention the issue when it delivered its first-quarter earnings report on Wednesday.

Temenos’s performance in the first three months of the year exceeded analyst expectations, with turnover rising by a fifth to 172 million dollars, and licence income gaining 40 percent to 63.6 million dollars. «It was a good start to the year», said CEO David Arnott.

In addition, operating profit rose by a third to $36.4 million and profit per share reached $0.40, from $0.27 a year earlier.