Visa 1Q Results Top Wall Street’s Expectations

Visa’s fiscal first-quarter net income increased 9 percent, benefiting from solid payments volume growth. Its performance beat analysts’ expectations.

The world’s largest processor of debit- and credit-card payments earned $1.41 billion, or $2.20 per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31. That’s up from $1.29 billion, or $1.93 per share, in the prior-year period.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet predicted earnings of $2.16 per share.

Operating revenue rose 11 percent, to $3.16 billion from $2.85 billion, helped by higher revenue for service, data processing and international transactions.

Wall Street was looking for $3.13 billion in revenue.

First-quarter payments volume climbed 11 percent to $1.2 trillion on a constant dollar basis. Payments volume growth for the three months ended Sept. 30 — on which first-quarter service revenue is recognized — increased 13 percent to $1.1 trillion on a constant dollar basis.

The company also said it spent $1.1 billion to repurchase 5.5 million shares during the quarter. About $4.2 billion remains available for stock buybacks, the company said.

Visa Inc. reaffirmed its fiscal 2014 guidance for mid-to-high teens growth in earnings per share and a low double-digit increase in revenue, on a constant dollar basis.

The company also declared a regular quarterly dividend of 40 cents per share. The dividend will be paid on March 4 to shareholders of record on Feb. 14.