Visa Inc (NYSE:V) released its first fiscal quarter earnings report before opening bell, reporting operating revenue of $3.2 billion and profits of $1.41 billion or $2.20 per share. Analysts had been expecting the credit services provider to report earnings of $2.16 per share on revenue of $3.1 billion.
Shares rose as much as 3% in premarket trading after the company released its results.
Breaking down Visa’s results
Visa Inc (NYSE:V) reported that the main drivers of its 11% year over year growth in net operating revenue were service, data processing and international transaction revenues. The company also reported that the strengthening of the U.S. dollar negatively impacted its net operating revenues by 2 percentage points during the first fiscal quarter of 2014.
The company reported 13% payments volume growth year over year for the three months ending Sept. 30. Visa Inc (NYSE:V) recognizes fiscal quarter service revenue on this amount during the December quarter. For the three months ending in December, payments volume grew 12%. Total processed transactions for the December quarter were $16 billion, a 13% year over year increase.
Fiscal first quarter service revenues were $1.4 billion, a 9% increase. Data processing revenues rose 13% to $1.3 billion. International transaction revenues rose 11% to $891 million. Other revenues were $180 million, which was flat with the previous year.
Visa reports notable events
During December, Visa Inc (NYSE:V) repurchased 5.5 million shares of class A common stock at an average price of $199.95 per share using $1.1 billion in cash on hand. At the end of December, the company had $4.2 billion in remaining authorized buyback funds.
This week the company’s board declared a 40-cent per share dividend, which will be payable on March 4 to shareholders of record on Feb. 14. On Wednesday Visa Inc (NYSE:V) also held its annual shareholders’ meeting, during which shareholders approved all of management’s proposals.
Visa Inc (NYSE:V) also provided guidance for the full 2014 fiscal year, projecting low double-digit growth in annual net revenue. It expects client incentives to be between 16.5% and 17.5% of gross revenues and an annual operating margin in the low 60s. The company projects annual earnings per share growth in the mid to high teens and approximately $5 billion in annual free cash flow.
Visa addresses recent data breaches
Visa Inc (NYSE:V) management also provided a statement on the recent data breaches at several major U.S. retailers, highlighting plans to improve security in the near future.
“The recent series of data compromises are terribly unfortunate for everyone involved,” said Visa CEO Charlie Scharf in a statement.” However, the established and well understood rules that govern traditional networks coupled with the cooperation between merchants, financial institutions, and the networks have minimized the level of the monetary losses. But these incidents remind us of the need for all of us to continue to work together to secure payments from criminals. Visa is committed to ensuring our network operates at the highest level of security available and will continue to move the industry towards the adoption of new safeguards including EMV chip and tokenization. We also will work with all participants to look beyond these technologies.”
