Mastercard beats profit estimates on spending boost
MASTERCARD on Thursday (Jul 25) reported a bigger-than-expected rise in second-quarter profit, boosted by resilient spending in a turbulent economy.
Unfazed by stubborn inflation and a stormy economic environment, Mastercard’s customers continued to spend heavily on travel and entertainment even as rate hikes by the Federal Reserve have increased the odds of a recession later this year.
The company’s earnings report rounds out a tepid quarter for card issuers that have come under pressure after being on relatively solid ground compared to other industries, since last year.
On Tuesday, Mastercard’s peer Visa reported its smallest jump in quarterly profit in more than two years. American Express also kept its full-year profit forecast unchanged despite reporting record spending last week.
Excluding one-time costs, New York-based Mastercard earned US$2.89 per share for the three months ended June 30, beating expectations of US$2.82 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Gross US dollar volumes, a metric that represents the total US dollar value of all transactions processed, rose 12 per cent to US$2.3 trillion on a local currency basis from a year earlier.
Cross-border volume, a gauge of travel demand that tracks spending on cards outside the country of their issue, jumped 24 per cent.
Net revenue grew 14 per cent to US$6.3 billion. REUTERS
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