Visa posts Q3 results

• GAAP net income of $2.1 billion or $0.86 per share
• Net operating revenue of $4.6 billion, an increase of 26%, driven by inclusion of Europe and continued growth in payments volume, cross-border volume and processed transactions
• Payments volume growth, on a constant dollar basis, was 38% over the prior year at $1.9 trillion
• Cross-border volume growth, on a constant dollar basis, was 147% or 11% inclusive of Europe in prior year results
• Total Visa processed transactions were 28.5 billion, a 44% increase over the prior year, or 13% growth inclusive of Europe in prior year results
• Returned approximately $2.1 billion of capital to shareholders in the form of share repurchases and dividends

“I’m pleased to report Visa’s fiscal third quarter results which reflect strong growth in payments volume, cross-border volume, and processed transactions, which were powered by economic tailwinds in the U.S. and globally,” said Alfred F. Kelly, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of Visa Inc. “Our results and growth are a reflection of our strategy to pursue the conversion of cash and checks to electronic payments in partnership with our clients around the world.”

Fiscal Third Quarter 2017 Financial Highlights:

GAAP net income in the fiscal third quarter was $2.1 billion or $0.86 per share. Prior year's results included several special items related to the acquisition of Visa Europe. Excluding these special items, net income and earnings per share both increased 26% over the prior year. Exchange rate shifts versus the prior year negatively impacted earnings per share growth by approximately 2 percentage points. All references to earnings per share assume fully-diluted class A share count, inclusive of series B and C convertible participating preferred stock, unless otherwise noted.

Net operating revenue in the fiscal third quarter was $4.6 billion, an increase of 26%, driven by the inclusion of Europe and continued growth in payments volume, cross-border volume and processed transactions. Exchange rate shifts versus the prior year negatively impacted reported net operating revenue growth by approximately 1.5 percentage points.

Payments volume growth, on a constant dollar basis, for the three months ended March 31, 2017, on which fiscal third quarter service revenue is recognized, was 38% over the prior year at $1.7 trillion. Effective with the three months ended December 31, 2016, Europe co-badge volume is no longer included in reported volume.

Payments volume growth, on a constant dollar basis, for the three months ended June 30, 2017, was 38% over the prior year at $1.9 trillion.

Cross-border volume growth, on a constant dollar basis, was 147% for the three months ended June 30, 2017. Cross-border volume growth, on a constant dollar basis and inclusive of Europe in prior year results, was 11%.

Total processed transactions, which represent transactions processed by Visa, for the three months ended June 30, 2017, were 28.5 billion, a 44% increase over the prior year. Total processed transactions growth was 13%, inclusive of Europe in prior year results.

Fiscal third quarter service revenues were $1.9 billion, an increase of 19% over the prior year, and are recognized based on payments volume in the prior quarter. All other revenue categories are recognized based on current quarter activity. Data processing revenues rose 29% over the prior year to $2.0 billion. International transaction revenues grew 45% over the prior year to $1.6 billion. Other revenues were $209 million, flat over the prior year. Client incentives, which are a contra revenue item, were $1.1 billion and represent 20.1% of gross revenues.

GAAP operating expenses were $1.5 billion for the fiscal third quarter, a 52% decrease over the prior year's results which included special items related to the acquisition of Visa Europe. Excluding these special items, operating expenses grew 31% over the prior year, primarily driven from the inclusion of Visa Europe's operating expenses following the acquisition.

GAAP effective income tax rate was 29.3% for the quarter ended June 30, 2017.

Cash, cash equivalents, and available-for-sale investment securities were $12.2 billion at June 30, 2017.

The weighted-average number of diluted shares of class A common stock outstanding was 2.39 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2017.

Notable Events:

During the three months ended June 30, 2017, the Company repurchased 17.8 million shares of class A common stock, at an average price of $93.82 per share, using $1.7 billion of cash on hand. In the nine months ended June 30, 2017, the Company repurchased a total of 59.2 million shares of class A common stock, at an average price of $86.82 per share, using $5.1 billion of cash on hand. The Company currently has $5.5 billion of funds available for share repurchase.

On July 17, 2017, the board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.165 per share of class A common stock (determined in the case of class B and C common stock and series B and C convertible participating preferred stock on an as-converted basis) payable on September 5, 2017, to all holders of record of the Company’s common and preferred stock as of August 18, 2017.

Financial Outlook for Fiscal Full-Year 2017:

Visa Inc. reaffirms its financial outlook for the following GAAP metrics for fiscal full-year 2017:

• Annual operating margin: Mid 60s; and
• Effective tax rate: Mid 40s on a GAAP basis and approximately 30% on an adjusted, non-GAAP basis.

Visa Inc. updates its financial outlook for the following GAAP metrics for fiscal full-year 2017:

• Annual net revenue growth: Approximately 20% on a nominal dollar basis, including approximately 2.0 ppts of negative foreign currency impact;
• Client incentives as a percent of gross revenues: 20.0% to 20.5% range; and
• Annual diluted class A common stock earnings per share growth: Low double-digits on a GAAP nominal dollar basis and approximately 20% on an adjusted, non-GAAP nominal dollar basis (see note below), both including approximately 2.5 ppts of negative foreign currency impact.

Note: The financial outlook for fiscal full-year 2017 includes Visa Europe integration expenses of approximately $60 million for the full-year. Differences in our financial outlook for fiscal full-year 2017 GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures relate to the one-time, non-recurring items that are included in the accompanying reconciliation. Annual adjusted diluted class A common stock earnings per share growth is derived from adjusted full-year 2016 earnings per share results of $2.84. Refer to the accompanying financial tables for further details and a reconciliation of the adjusted fiscal full-year 2016 results.