Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) released its latest quarterly earnings report before opening bell. Net income was reported to be $766 million or $6.23 per diluted share. That’s a 12 percent increase over the same quarter a year ago. The company’s first quarter net revenue rose 8 percent to $1.9 billion, an increase of 8 percent over the same quarter a year ago. Analysts were expecting the company to report earnings of approximately $6.14 per share on revenue of about $2 billion.
The company reported a 12 percent increase in gross dollar volume on a local currency basis and a 16 percent increase in cross-border volumes. Its processed transactions also rose by 12 percent to $8.7 billion. Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) said these numbers were partially offset by rebate and incentive increases, mostly because of increased volumes and new and renewed agreements.
As of the end of March, MasterCard’s customers had issued almost 2 billion branded cards. President and CEO Ajay Banga said they also signed new credit agreements with a number of clients.
“We signed new consumer credit agreements with Bank of America and TD Bank and secured significant wins in our APMEA region with Qantas, South Africa’s NedBank and Japan’s Rakuten,” he said in a statement. “We also signed an alliance with the Alibaba Group to explore opportunities in the Chinese market.”
MasterCard said it also launched its MasterPass service commercially during the quarter. The digital wallet and mobile checkout options enable consumers to store their payment card and loyalty card information as well as their shipping addresses.
Shares of Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) fell before opening bell, dropping as much as 2.34 percent in pre-market trades after the release of the company’s latest quarterly report.
