(By Balachander) Payment processor Mastercard Inc. (NYSE:MA) reported stronger-than-forecast quarterly earnings as jump in processed transactions and volumes drove 17 percent growth in revenue.
Earnings attributable to MasterCard increased to $682 million or $5.36 per share for the first quarter from $562 million or $4.29 per share in the year-ago quarter, topping market expectations of earnings of $5.30 a share.
Net revenue rose to $1.76 billion from $1.50 billion, versus consensus estimate of a 15 percent rise to $1.73 billion.
Processed transactions shot up 29 percent to 7.7 billion.
Gross dollar volume grew 18 percent and purchase volume gained 17 percent.
Total operating expenses increased 14 percent to $758 million.
As of March 31, Mastercard's customers had issued 1.8 billion MasterCard and Maestro-branded cards.
"For MA, competitive wins and Durbin share shifts should offset Euro area drags and drive EPS upside," UBS analyst John Williams had wrote in a note.
MA shares, which have been trading in the 52-week range between $258.34 and $466.98, closed Tuesday's regular trading at $455.90. Shares of MasterCard have gained 64 percent in the last one year and 23 percent year-to-date.