PURCHASE, N.Y. – MasterCard Inc. said Friday its first-quarter earnings fell 18% from the year-ago period that included a special gain on the sale of an investment.
Despite a weakening global economy, MasterCard still saw growth in the number of processed transactions -- up 6% to 5.1 billion. However, the dollar value of those transactions fell 10% to $411 billion, however, primarily due to foreign currency exchange. On a local currency basis, purchase volume increased less than 1%.
Net income for the MasterCard, one of the few stocks held by credit unions, fell to $367.3 million, from $446.9 million, for the first quarter last year.
Last year's results included a $173 million gain from the sale of a portion of MasterCard's investment in Redecard SA, a Brazilian credit and debit card provider.
Revenues fell 2% in the first quarter to $1.16 billion from $1.18 billion a year ago.
Earlier, last week, Visa Inc. reported a 70% surge in first quarter earnings, as the card network increased prices, slashed expenses and consumers used debit cards more during the quarter.
