Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) released its December quarter earnings this morning before opening bell, missing expectations and sending shares lower in premarket trading. The company posted net income of $684 million, excluding items, or 57 cents per share. Including items, net income was $623 million or 52 cents per share. Net revenue rose 12% to $2.1 billion.
Analysts had been expecting the credit services company to report earnings of 60 cents per share on revenue of $2.14 billion for the fourth quarter of 2013. Shares of Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) fell as much as 6% in premarket trading after the results were announced.
Breaking down MasterCard’s results
Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) did a ten for one stock split recently, so these earnings results have been adjusted for that split. The special item referenced by the company was a $61 million after-tax charge due to opt-outs in litigations involving U.S. merchants.
According to Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA), the revenue growth was driven by a 14% increase in gross dollar volume, which rose to $1.1 trillion. The company also reported an 18% growth in cross-border volumes and a 13% growth in processed transactions, which rose to $10.4 billion in the quarter. The company said that increases in rebates and incentives partially offset these positive impacts, mainly because of increased volumes and new and renewed agreements.
Worldwide purchase volumes also rose 12% on a local currency basis compared to the same quarter a year ago. As of the end of December, Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA)’s customers had issued nearly 2 million MasterCard and Maestro-branded cards. During the quarter, the company also bought back 9.8 million shares for a total of $751 million.
Mastercard reports full-year results
For the full year, Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) reported $3.2 billion in net income, a 15% increase, and $2.61 per share in earnings, a 19% increase compared to the previous year. These amounts exclude the litigation-related items.
Net revenue for the full year rose 13% to $8.3 billion, while gross dollar volume rose 13% and cross-border volume grew 18%. Processed transactions grew 13%. For the full year, the company bought back 41 million shares at about $2.4 billion.
