Visa Net Climbs 33% As Spending Picks Up
Visa Inc.'s fiscal second-quarter profit grew by a third, topping analysts' expectations, as consumers ratcheted up spending and the company processed more payments.</br></br>The results offer fresh evidence on the rising optimism of consumers as the economy stabilizes. Higher spending by borrowers also bolsters hopes of a turnaround in the broad credit-card industry and shifts the spotlight from consumer defaults and delinquencies.</br></br>"Our performance was fueled by higher-than-expected payments-volume growth," said Chairman and Chief Executive Joseph Saunders. He added Visa was "increasingly optimistic that economic growth will gradually improve."</br></br>For the quarter ended March 31, Visa reported a profit of $713 million, or 96 cents a class A common share, compared with a profit of $536 million, or 71 cents per class A common share, a year earlier. Revenue for the fiscal second-quarter jumped 19% to about $2 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of 91 cents on revenue of $1.93 billion.</br></br>For the second-quarter, payments volume, representing spending on Visa-branded cards, rose 13% from a year ago to $745 billion. The total number of transactions processed in the second-quarter rose 14% over a year ago to 10.6 billion.