Visa profit falls 23% as payment volumes plunge

By Imani Moise and Niket Nishant

(Reuters) – Visa Inc missed Wall Street estimates for fourth quarter profit on Wednesday, as high unemployment due to the coronavirus-induced recession continued to weigh on consumer spending.

The payments processor said total spending decreased 10% on a constant dollar basis, and the number of processed transactions tumbled 13% from a year earlier.

Cross-border volume slid 47% as the continuing global pandemic continued to hurt travel demand.

Earlier on Wednesday, Mastercard Inc missed profit expectations and warned that travel-related spending will likely be a major headwind for the industry until COVID-19 vaccines are widely available.

Visa’s net income fell to $2.4 billion, or $1.07 per Class A share, for the fourth quarter ended Sept. 30, from $3.03 billion, or $1.34 per Class A share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis the company reported earnings of $1.06 per share.

Net revenue fell 17% to $4.8 billion as consumer spending was limited due to the health crisis, which has triggered the worst economic downturn in decades and prompted massive layoffs.

This is only the second time the company’s quarterly revenue declined year-over-year since it went public in 2008.

Analysts polled by Refinitiv had been expecting an 18.5% slide in revenue and earnings of $1.09 per share.

(Reporting by Imani Moise; Editing by Leslie Adler and Jonathan Oatis)