MasterCard income soars as overseas business expandsJanuary 31, 2013 - 18:42 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - MasterCard's net income rebounded strongly in the fourth quarter as its overseas business continued to expand, the company said Thursday, Jan. 31, according to AP. The results benefited by comparison to the year-earlier quarter, which was weighed down by a massive legal charge. Net income in the three months ended Dec. 31 rose to $605 million, or $4.86 per share, from $19 million, or 15 cents per share, a year earlier. Net revenue rose 10 percent to $1.90 billion. MasterCard continued to grow by most measures: It processed 20 percent more transactions than a year ago, including 17 percent higher cross-border volumes. MasterCard is expanding most quickly in Latin America and the region that includes Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Outside the United States, the volume of cash moved in 2012 increased 23.5 percent on a U.S. dollar basis. That compares with growth of 9.7 percent inside the U.S. The Purchase, N.Y.-based payments network took a charge of nearly $500 million in the year-earlier quarter. The charge covered the cost of a settlement with retailers over the fees they pay on credit card transactions. For 2012, MasterCard earned $2.76 billion, or $21.94 per share, on revenue of $7.39 billion. During the quarter, management repurchased 1.3 million shares for $613 million. Repurchasing shares is a way of returning profits to shareholders. It boosts the value of each share that remains in investors' hands. The quarterly results beat analysts' estimates, sending shares up 4 percent in pre-market trading. Shares rose $18.50 to $534.50 a half-hour before the opening bell. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |