MasterCard 2Q Profit and Sales Top Estimates, Shares Rise

NEW YORK (AP) —

MasterCard stock rose Thursday after the credit and debit card payment processor posted stronger results than analysts expected.

MasterCard said its net income edged up to $983 million, or 89 cents per share, in the second quarter. Excluding one-time costs and gains the company earned 96 cents per share. Its revenue rose 13 percent to $2.69 billion.

Analysts expected MasterCard to report a profit of 90 cents per share on $2.6 billion in revenue, according to Zacks Investment Research.

The Purchase, New York company said it processed 14 percent more transactions than it did a year ago. MasterCard said it is also expanding into other types of payments: earlier this month it agreed to buy a 92-percent stake in Britain’s VocaLink Holdings for about $920 million. MasterCard said VocaLink’s technology allows for direct credit and debit payments between bank accounts and faster payments over mobile phones and the internet. It also runs a network of ATMs in the United Kingdom.

MasterCard Inc. stock rose $1.38, or 1.5 percent, to $95.13 in morning trading. The shares have slipped about 2 percent this year while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has risen 6 percent.

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