Visa Inc. said late Monday that it made $314 million in the first quarter, 28% more than it made a year earlier, in its first earnings report as a public company.
The San Francisco payments company, which went public last month, made 39 cents a share. Excluding litigation, restructuring, and other costs, Visa said, its profit rose 48%, to $401 million, or 52 cents a share.
Revenue climbed 22%, to $1.45 billion. Payment volume on the Visa network rose 19% from a year earlier, to $681 billion, in the fourth quarter. (Visa recognizes revenues related to network transactions the quarter after they occur.)
Joseph Saunders, Visa's chairman and chief executive officer, said in a press release that he was "very pleased" with the results.
"Despite a challenging economic environment, Visa recorded strong growth in payments volume and transactions globally and across our diverse suite of products — a trend which is continuing into the fiscal third quarter," he said.
The company, which operates the world's largest payment card network, said it aims to post annual revenue growth of 11% to 15%; operating margins, before interest and taxes, "in the low 40% range"; annual adjusted earnings per share growth of at least 20%; and annual free cash flow of over $1 billion.
Several analysts had initiated coverage of Visa on Monday, before the results were announced, with generally positive ratings.
Its shares closed at $75.63 on Monday afternoon before the earnings announcement, 72% higher than its initial public offering price.
Visa's rival, MasterCard Inc. of Purchase, N.Y., which went public two years ago, is scheduled to report first-quarter results today.
