Credit-card processor TSYS experienced a 1 percent dip in its first-quarter profits, primarily due to expenses related to its spinoff from former parent firm, Synovus Financial Corp.

Columbus-based TSYS reported Monday that net income for the three-month period ended March 31 was $56.6 million, roughly $660,000 less than the same period a year ago.

TSYS officially disconnected as a subsidiary of the bankholding firm Synovus on Jan. 1, a move that made the processor an independent firm. Spinoff-related expenses have amounted to nearly $7 million so far this year for TSYS. It expects to rack up $10 million altogether in 2008 to complete the transition.

If spinoff costs -- considered one-time events -- were to be excluded from the financial report, TSYS net income would have climbed 8 percent for the quarter, the company said.