Visa 3Q profit jumps, as more is spent on its network

NEW YORK (AP) — Payment processing giant Visa said today its fiscal third-quarter profits rose an adjusted 36 percent from a year ago, helped by an 11 percent increase in the amount people spent on its namesake network worldwide.

Visa reported a profit of $2.33 billion, up from $2.06 billion in the same period a year earlier. Excluding a $600 million one-time charge related to a lawsuit Visa is defending, the company's net income was $2.79 billion, or $1.20 a share. That beats the $1.09 per-share estimate analysts had been expecting according to FactSet.

Consumers spent $2.101 trillion on Visa's network worldwide last quarter, up 11.1 percent from a year earlier. Visa earns a small fee for every dollar spent using credit or debit cards on its Visa network.

"Our third quarter results reflect continued strength across all of our key business drivers and healthy economic fundamentals across the world," said Visa Chief Executive Officer Alfred Kelly.

Total revenues were $5.24 billion up from $4.57 billion a year earlier.

Shares in San Francisco-based Visa slipped about 1.6 percent in after-market trading to $140.30. The stock is up more than 25 percent so far this year.