Heartland Brushes Off the Harsh Winter

Heartland Payment Systems' financial performance held out through a difficult winter that put a chill on consumer spending.

The payment processor reported adjusted net income of $19.4 million and $0.52 per share in the first quarter of 2014, compared to $19.4 million and $0.51 in the first quarter of 2013. New margin installed was an all-time record $19.8 million—up 24% from about $15.1 million the prior year—and small to mid-sized enterprise quarterly transaction was $18 billion, up 3.7% from $17.3 billion in the first quarter of 2013.

For the full year, Heartland is projecting 8% to 10% growth in net revenue, which would total between $645 million and $660 million.

The company's investment in Leaf, a provider of a tablet-based mobile payment system, will have a negative impact of about $0.14 per share in 2013 because Heartland cannot deduct its share of Leaf's operating losses, Heartland said.

"We continue to deliver record earnings, notwithstanding the negative impact of the severe winter weather on the entire industry," says Robert Carr, chairman and CEO of Heartland, in an April 30 press release. "The continued success of our new business initiatives produced all-time record new margin installed for the third consecutive quarter and our first ever $7 million month in March."