Heartland Payment Systems Inc. swung to a $7.5 million third-quarter profit from a $37.1 million loss a year earlier that it attributed to costs from a data breach.
Heartland's revenue for the quarter rose 12.8%, to $499.1 million, from a year earlier. Transaction volume for the Princeton, N.J., merchant processor rose 5.9%, to a record $16.6 billion, the company said.
Same-store sales were up for the second consecutive quarter, and the number of new merchants, "though down relative to a year ago, was still the best since the fourth quarter of last year," Robert Carr, Heartland's chairman and chief executive, said during a conference call Wednesday.
Carr said he was optimistic that Heartland has moved beyond the data breach, which it disclosed in 2009.
Heartland still is working with regulators and has a pending class action, but it has settled with the card brands, including Discover, Carr said.
