Mastercard raises FY expenses outlook, shares fall

Mastercard Inc beat second-quarter profit estimates on Thursday but the world’s second-largest payments processor raised its full-year guidance for expenses, sending its shares 3 percent lower before the opening bell.

The company now expects operating expenses to grow in a “high-teens” percentage in the year, compared with its prior forecast of a mid-teens rise.

Operating expenses rose 23.5 percent to $1.73 billion (1.31 billion pounds) in the second quarter ended June 30, as the company continues to invest in safety and security and digital products.

Mastercard, which processes more than 65,000 transactions a minute, said gross dollar volumes rose 15.3 percent to $1.48 trillion in the quarter. The United States, the company’s largest market, accounted for about 30 percent of the total.

Cross-border volumes - the value of transactions made by card holders abroad - increased 23.6 percent on a U.S. dollar basis.

Net income jumped 33 percent to $1.57 billion, or $1.50 per share, in the quarter ended June 30.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.66 per share, beating the average analyst estimate of $1.53, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The Purchase, New York-based company’s total revenue rose 20 percent to $3.67 billion, topping estimates of $3.65 billion.