First USA earnings soar 154% in quarter.

DALLAS -- First USA Inc., the financial-services company that specializes in credit cards, reported net income of $33.2 million for the fourth fiscal quarter ending June 30, more than double that of last year.

The earnings, which amount to 52 cents per share, represent a 154% increase from 1993's fourth-quarter earnings of $13.1 million, or 23 cents per share. It nearly tops fiscal 1993's total revenue of $39.8 million for the Dallas-based company.

John C. Tolleson, chairman and chief executive, noted that First USA achieved record growth in earnings, loans, new accounts, and merchant-processing volume.

During the fiscal year, loans grew $3.8 billion, or 102%, and First USA added 1.9 million credit card accounts. In the fourth quarter, 663,000 new accounts were opened.

For the calendar year ended in December, First USA Bank in Delaware ranked 11th among U.S. banks in card loans.

Managed credit card loans at June 30 were $7.5 billion, an increase of 102% over a year earlier. Loans in the quarter were up $1.1 billion from March 31, 1994.

At the same time, net credit loss dipped to 2.22% for the fiscal year, from 3.25%. In the quarter, net credit loss was 1.99%, down from 2.99% in the prior year quarter.

In its merchant-processing business, volume soared 69% to $17.3 billion for fiscal 1994. For the quarter ended June 30, volume grew 66% to $5 billion.

Recently, First USA Merchant Services, the subsidiary, acquired two independent sales organizations to boost its market share. In the past nine months, the nation's sixth-largest merchant processor purchased two smaller processors.

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