PURCHASE, N.Y. – MasterCard reported a 26% rise in second-quarter profits yesterday, boosted by an increase in pricing and number of transactions, and a decrease in incentives and rebates.
The second-quarter results compared to a $746.6 million loss for the second quarter last year, which was caused by a $1.65 billion charge for litigation expenses in the company’s antitrust cases.
MasterCard’s earnings report came a day after Visa reported a $729 million net for its fiscal third quarter, fueled by the sale of its interests in the Brazilian version of the VisaNet processing system.
For the second quarter, MasterCard reported profits of $349 million, on revenues of $1.28 billion.
That compares to the loss of $746.6 million, on revenues of $1.25 billion of revenue, for the same period last year.
Through the first six months of the year, revenues were almost flat at $2.4 billion, and net income was $716.3 million, compared to a $299.8 million loss for the first half last year.
