Earnings Fall At First Data

DENVER - (01/27/06) – First Data Corp. reportedThursday that fourth quarter net dropped 14%, compared to the sameperiod in 2004, due to a number of restructuring and other charges.Fourth quarter net income declined to $397.9 million, or 53 cents ashare, mainly because of a 12 cents per share of restructuring,integration and other costs. Revenues for the quarter were up 3% to$2.77 billion. Revenues for the company’s payment servicesunit, which is comprised mostly of Western Union, rose 14% in thefourth period, to $1.14 billion. First Data announced Thursday itplans to spin off Western Union to shareholders as a separatelytraded company later this year. For the full year, revenue rose 6$to $10.5 billion, while net income declined 15% to $1.59 billion,or $2.02 a share.