DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Global Payments Inc.'s (GPN) fiscal second-quarter net income rose 28% amid growth in North America and business growth from its joint venture with HSBC Bank PLC.
Still, the payment processor cut its fiscal-year earnings expectations as a result of the strengthening dollar.
For the quarter ended Nov. 30, Global Payments reported net income of $48.9 million, or 60 cents a share, up from $38.3 million, or 48 cents a share, a year earlier.
Revenue increased 30% to $401.1 million.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast earnings of 57 cents a share on revenue of $405 million.
Operating margins rose to 20.6% from 18.9%.
The company, which provides card-authorization services for merchants, attributed the quarter's growth to its June joint venture with HSBC Bank, a subsidiary of HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC), which allows Global Payments to provide payment-processing services to merchants in the U.K. and international Internet merchants.
The quarter's growth was aided by North American growth, which improved 16% amid price increases in Canada.
Looking ahead, the company lowered its fiscal-year earnings guidance to a range of $2.14 to $2.21 a share on revenue of $1.55 billion to $1.58 billion, down from its October view of $2.37 to $2.45 a share on revenue from $1.64 billion to $1.68 billion.
Goldman Sachs raised its investment rating on Global Payments to buy from neutral last month, citing strength in the transaction processing sector as payments and remittance business continues to grow.
Shares fell 1.8% to $34.15 in after-hours trading.
-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5285; john.kell@dowjones.com
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Publié le 06 janvier 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones