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Lower costs help mastercard rise

CASH BOOST: MasterCard, the world's No 2 debit and credit card company, has reported a 17% rise in profit in the first quarter of the year ending in March Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
CASH BOOST: MasterCard, the world's No 2 debit and credit card company, has reported a 17% rise in profit in the first quarter of the year ending in March Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Mastercard, the world's No 2 debit and credit card company, reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit as costs fell and shoppers spent more on its cards.

MasterCard's shares rose about 3.6% to a record high of $93.59 (R1090) in early trading yesterday.

Larger rival Visa's shares also rose 1.7%.

"We are managing well, despite a mixed economic environment and challenging currency situation," chief executive Ajay Banga said in a statement.

Operating expenses fell about 1% to $879-million in the first quarter ended March 31.

The dollar, which has gained about 22% in the past 12 months against a basket of major currencies, has hurt US multinational companies.

"(MasterCard) was able to overcome a drag from currency and grow volumes and earnings based on cost discipline," Wedbush Securities analyst Gil Luria said.

MasterCard and larger rival Visa Inc get more than 60% of their revenue from outside the US, making them vulnerable to currency fluctuations.

Visa is expected to report first-quarter earnings today.

American Express Co, the world's largest credit card issuer, said the dollar was partly to blame for its lower-than-expected quarterly revenue.

MasterCard's worldwide purchase volume increased 11.8% to $783-billion in local currency terms during the quarter, while cross-border volumes jumped 19%.

The company's net income rose to $1.02-billion, or 89 cents per share, from $870-million, or 73 cents per share, a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned 91 cents a share.

Analysts on average had expected earnings of 80 cents per share on revenue of $2.28 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

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