MasterCard income up 12 percent for Q1

Purchase-based MasterCard Inc. announced financial results Thursday for Q1 2013 with net income up 12 percent over Q1 2012. Its gross dollar volume for the quarter, meantime, approached a trillion dollars: $947 billion.

The company reported net income of $766 million, up 12 percent year over year, and earnings per share of $6.23, up 16 percent, also versus the year-ago period.

Net revenue for the first quarter of 2013 was $1.9 billion, an 8 percent increase versus the same period in 2012. Adjusted for local currencies, net revenue increased 9 percent.

MasterCard said growth was driven by a 12 percent increase in gross dollar volume, on a local currency basis, to $947 billion; an increase in cross-border volumes of 16 percent; and an increase in processed transactions of 12 percent, to $8.7 billion.

These factors were partially offset by an increase in rebates and incentives, primarily due to increased volumes and new and renewed agreements, MasterCard reported.

Worldwide purchase volume during the quarter was up 10 percent on a local currency basis versus the first quarter of 2012, to $690 billion.

As of March 31, there were 1.9 billion MasterCard and Maestro-branded cards worldwide.

“We are pleased with our first-quarter results as we delivered solid performance that met our expectations despite the mixed global economic environment,” said Ajay Banga, MasterCard president and CEO.

Total operating expenses increased 6 percent, to $799 million, during Q1 of 2013 compared with the same period in 2012. The increase was primarily driven by higher personnel expenses.

MasterCard’s effective tax rate was 30.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013, versus a rate of 31.8 percent in the comparable period in 2012. The decrease was primarily due to a more favorable geographic mix of earnings, the company said, and to a benefit from a deduction related to the company’s software.

During Q1 2013, MasterCard repurchased approximately 1,480,000 shares of Class A common stock at a cost of approximately $766 million. Through April 25, the company repurchased an additional 341,500 shares at a cost of approximately $182 million, with $1.7 billion remaining under the current repurchase program authorization.