An increase in transaction volume at its merchants and higher debit network fees from its bank clients helped payments processor First Data Corp. increase its quarterly revenue by 6% from a year earlier to $2.5 billion.
The Atlanta company, a unit of private-equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., on Wednesday said it also narrowed its net loss in the first quarter, to $184.5 million from $208.4 million.
"Higher volumes and good sales performance in our domestic and international merchant acquiring businesses coupled with lower expenses led to increased profitability across the board during the first quarter," Jonathan Judge, First Data's chief executive, said in a press release.
To improve its performance, First Data reorganized its operating units in January by combining its merchant processing and card-issuing operations. Rather than marketing them separately, the company is marketing them as one unit and splitting management between domestic and international markets.
The company said its retail and alliance services division, which works with merchants, saw a 4% increase in revenue to $765 million in the quarter, which it attributed to transaction growth of 9% and success at cross-selling additional products and services to retailers, such as point of sale terminals.
Revenue from its financial services operations, which deals with banks and credit unions, fell 2% to $338 million due to customer losses and small drop in active card accounts it manages.
Its international sales rose 6% to $415 million, fueled by new bank partnerships in Europe and higher transaction volumes in Argentina, the company said.
