(Bloomberg) — Mastercard Inc. cut a forecast for full-year revenue growth citing foreign exchange headwinds, as first-quarter spending on the payments giant’s network fell short of estimates.
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The company expects net revenue growth to be at the low end of low double digits for 2024, compared with previous guidance for growth at the high end of low double digits, the Purchase, New York-based company said in a presentation Wednesday.
Foreign exchange is now expected to be a headwind, given the recent appreciation of the US dollar, Chief Financial Officer Sachin Mehra said on an earnings call.
On a currency neutral basis, excluding acquisitions, the outlook for net revenue growth remained unchanged from a prior forecast — for growth at the high end of low double digits.
Shares of the Purchase, New York-based company had climbed 5.8% this year through Tuesday. They were down 2.3% at 10:04 a.m. in New York.
Total network spending volume of $2.29 trillion for the first quarter was up 8.6% from a year earlier — though that missed estimates of $2.32 trillion.
Still, adjusted earnings for the first three months of the year totaled $3.31 a share, beating the $3.23 average of estimates in a Bloomberg survey.
“Our momentum continued this quarter, as we delivered strong revenue and earnings growth powered by healthy consumer spending, strong cross-border volume growth of 18% year-over-year and new deal wins in every region,” Mastercard Chief Executive Officer Michael Miebach said in a statement Wednesday.
Rival Visa Inc. also beat earnings estimates, reporting adjusted net income of $5.1 billion for the first quarter as spending climbed, and American Express Co. saw its revenue jump 11% in the period.
During the quarter, Mastercard and Visa reached one of the largest antitrust settlements ever, agreeing to cap credit-card interchange fees and allowing merchants to charge customers more for using certain cards and use pricing tactics to steer consumers away from higher-cost cards. The agreement, which merchants said would save them at least $30 billion over five years, is subject to court approval.
Mastercard’s customers had issued 3.4 billion Mastercard and Maestro-branded cards at the end of the period, according to a company statement.
(Updates with currency-neutral net revenue growth outlook in second paragraph.)
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