By Josh Beckerman
Visa Inc.'s earnings for the December quarter exceeded Wall
Street expectations as the company posted growth in payment volume
and announced a four-for-one stock split.
For the period ended Dec. 31, Visa reported a profit of $1.57
billion, or $2.53 per Class A share, up from $1.41 billion, or
$2.20 per Class A share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $3.38
billion from $3.16 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters projected earnings of $2.49 a
share on revenue of $3.34 billion.
"While the challenges of the macro global environment don't seem
to abate, our results have remained consistent and reflect the
strength and underlying resilience of our business model," the
company said.
Visa also reaffirmed its guidance for the full year ending in
September, projecting per-share earnings growth in the midteens.
The company still expects low-double-digit revenue growth on a
constant dollar basis, and two percentage points of negative
foreign-currency impact.
In after-hours trading, the company's shares rose 3.3% to
$256.21.
Spending on credit and debit cards has been strong as consumers
migrate from cash and checks to electronic payments. Visa and
competitor MasterCard Inc. don't issue cards or set interest rates,
but they charge fees to financial institutions for transactions
that travel over their networks.
Visa's digital efforts have included the launch of Visa Digital
Solutions, an initiative geared toward secure payments using mobile
devices. Visa said in September that it planned to create 2,000
full-time technology roles and open a new technology center in
India. Visa and others have supported Apple Inc.'s Apple Pay
service.
Write to Josh Beckerman at josh.beckerman@wsj.com
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