Western Union Co., the world's biggest money-transfer business, said second-quarter profit fell 27 percent as revenue from transaction fees dropped and expenses climbed.
Net income for the three months ended June 30 was $198.6 million, or 36 cents a share, compared with $271.2 million, or 44 cents, a year earlier, the Englewood, Colo.-based company said today in a statement. The average estimate of 29 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for earnings of 34 cents a share.
"The strategy we laid out at the beginning of the year is working," Chief Executive Officer Hikmet Ersek, 52, said in the statement. "We affirmed our financial outlook for the full year, and believe we are on target to return to revenue and profit growth in 2014."
Ersek said in February that revenue and profit growth would be reduced in 2013 as the company invests in its online business and cuts prices to stay competitive as consumers shift away from cash. Shares have gained 25 percent this year, compared with the 18 percent advance of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
