Increased credit-card spending boosts Visa’s profit


28 Jul 2011

A rise in customers’ credit-card spending bumped Visa Inc’s third-quarter profit by 40pc

Net income for the three months ended 30 June rose to US$1bn, or US$1.43 a share, from US$716m, or 97 cents, in the same period a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings per share, which exclude the revaluation of the firm’s Visa Europe Ltd put option, were US$1.26, an increase of 29pc over the prior year.

Net operating revenue in the fiscal third quarter of 2011 was US$2.3bn, an increase of 14pc over the prior year and driven by strong double-digit growth in service revenues, data processing revenues and international transaction revenues. Currency fluctuations contributed two percentage points of growth towards quarterly net operating revenues.

Visa authorised a new US$1bn share repurchase program after spending about US$1.1bn in the third quarter to buy back 13.7 million shares at an average price of US$77.36.

“Visa delivered another quarter of strong financial and operational performance as we benefitted from growth in global payments volume, and solid cross border and processed transaction growth,” said Joseph Saunders, chairman and CEO of Visa Inc.

“As we address the new regulatory landscape, we are prepared to deliver on our financial goals and remain an industry-leading growth company in the global transactions space.”

“Visa is a diverse global enterprise, with strong positions in both developed and emerging markets around the world, and we are committed to further diversifying our business and accelerating growth in key markets worldwide,” Saunders added.

“We are executing on our growth strategy, investing heavily in innovation and taking important steps to bring new products and solutions to our partners and consumers.”