Earnings Rise At MasterCard

PURCHASE, N.Y. - (11/04/05) -- MasterCard Inc., the world's No. 2credit card association, said on Thursday its third quarter profitrose 8.2% to $106 million, or $1.06 a share, as consumers spentmore using its credit cards, especially when traveling. MasterCard,which is owned by the 1,400 credit unionbs and banks that issue itscards, said revenue advanced 19% to $792 million. Overall spendingusing MasterCard cards rose 12.5% to $424.4 billion; the number oftransactions processed globally increased 16%; and morecross-border travel by cardholders using its cards all pushedrevenues higher. Certain pricing changes that went into effect inthe second quarter of 2005 also helped, the company said. Thehigher third quarter earnings comes as MasterCard is planning aninitial public offering to raise as much as $2.5billion.