(By Balachander) Payments network Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) reported a jump in quarterly earnings, spurred by double-digit revenue growth from data processing and services. The company also announced a new $1.75 billion class A share buyback plan.
Net income attributable to Visa increased 25 percent to $1.29 billion.
Earnings per Class A common stock grew 29.5 percent to $1.93. Results includes a catch-up tax benefit effect of roughly $0.11 per share.
Wall Street analysts projected earnings of $1.79 a share.
Operating revenue rose 12 percent to $2.85 billion, versus consensus estimate of $2.82 billion for the first quarter.
Service revenue rose 13 percent, and data processing and international transaction revenue also gained 17 percent and 8 percent, respectively.
On a constant dollar basis, payments volume grew 6 percent, while total processed transactions increased 4 percent.
Looking ahead for the full year, the credit and debit-card network continues to expect adjusted earnings per share growth in high teens and net revenue growth in low double digits.
The No: 2 payments network Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) had last week posted better-than-expected quarterly profit on strong growth in card payments
V shares, which have been trading in the 52-week range of $106.06 to $162.77, ended at $160.82 on Wednesday.