Concord Deal Boosts FirstData

DENVER - (07/22/04) -- Payments processing giant First DataCorp. said net income soared 32% in its second quarter to $466million, or 53 cents a share, from $353 million, or 47 cents ashare, for the same period last year, on the strength of itsacquisition of Concord EFS. Second quarter results included a 16%rise in revenues for the company's payment services unit, 80% ofwhich is attributed to Western Union, to $904 million. WesternUnion continued to grow at double-digit rates, withconsumer-to-consumer transactions advancing by 20% in the quarter.Operations attributed to the Concord merger, including merchantservices and card issuing, also showed strong growth, of 47% and26%, respectively. As a result, the company reported a 47% rise innet income for the first half to $950 million, or $1.13 a share,from $646 million, or 85 cents a share, for the first six monthslast year. Second quarter highlights included a deal to sell thecompany's NYCE electronic funs transfer network to Metavante; anagreement to acquire European payments processor Delta SingularOutsourcing Services; and the repurchase of $683 million worth ofthe company's own shares.