The FINANCIAL — Visa Inc. on November 2 announced financial results for the Company’s fiscal fourth quarter and full-year 2015. GAAP net income in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2015 was $1.5 billion or $0.62 per share, an increase of 41% and 44% over the prior year, respectively. GAAP net income for the full-year 2015 was $6.3 billion or $2.58 per share, an increase of 16% and 20% over the prior year, respectively. All references to earnings per share assume fully-diluted class A share count unless otherwise noted.
Net income in the fiscal fourth quarter was $1.5 billion or $0.62 per share, an increase of 12% and 14% over the prior year adjusted results, respectively. Adjusted net income for the full-year 2015 was $6.4 billion or $2.62 per share, an increase of 13% and 16% over the prior year’s adjusted results, respectively. The Company’s full-year 2015 adjusted financial results excluded a non-cash, non-operating expense recorded upon the revaluation of the Visa Europe put option of $110 million. The Company’s 2015 results included a one-time tax benefit of $239 million resulting from the successful resolution of uncertain tax positions with taxing authorities during the fiscal third quarter that related to prior years. Prior year adjusted results excluded the impact of a special item related to amounts covered by the retrospective responsibility plan and related tax benefit during the fiscal fourth quarter. Prior year results also included a one-time tax benefit of $191 million related to a deduction for prior years’ U.S. domestic production activities during the fiscal second quarter, according to Visa.
Net operating revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2015 was $3.6 billion, an increase of 11% nominally or 13% on a constant dollar basis over the prior year. The strengthening of the U.S. dollar versus the prior year quarter negatively impacted net operating revenue growth by approximately 3 percentage points.
Net operating revenue for the fiscal full-year 2015 was $13.9 billion, an increase of 9% nominally or 12% on a constant dollar basis over the prior year, driven by solid revenue growth contributions from service, data processing and international transaction revenues. The strengthening of the U.S. dollar versus the prior year negatively impacted net operating revenue growth by approximately 2.5 percentage points.
Adjusted quarterly and full-year operating expenses and net income per class A common share outstanding are non-GAAP financial measures that are reconciled to their most directly comparable GAAP measures in the accompanying financial tables.
“Visa’s fiscal fourth quarter was a strong finish to an equally strong fiscal full-year 2015 in terms of revenue and earnings per share growth in the face of a continued challenging global economic environment. The underlying growth of our franchise continued as evidenced by our strong payments volumes as well as new and renewed partnerships during the year. Most importantly, we continued to build our capabilities at the physical point-of-sale as well as in the digital space,” said Charlie Scharf, Chief Executive Officer of Visa Inc. “Although fiscal 2016 reported growth rates will be negatively impacted by a strong US dollar and an uneven global economy, we are well positioned for strong success in 2017 and well beyond.”
Fiscal Fourth Quarter 2015 Financial Highlights:
Payments volume growth, on a constant dollar basis, for the three months ended June 30, 2015, on which fiscal fourth quarter service revenue is recognized, was 11% over the prior year at $1.3 trillion.
Payments volume growth, on a constant dollar basis, for the three months ended September 30, 2015, was 12% over the prior year at $1.3 trillion.
Cross-border volume growth, on a constant dollar basis, was 5% for the three months ended September 30, 2015.
Total processed transactions, which represent transactions processed by VisaNet, for the three months ended September 30, 2015, were 18.4 billion, an 8% increase over the prior year.
Fiscal fourth quarter 2015 service revenues were $1.6 billion, an increase of 9% 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 6% over the prior year to $1.4 billion. International transaction revenues grew 16% over the prior year to $1.1 billion. Other revenues were $216 million, a 3% increase over the prior year. Client incentives, which are a contra revenue item, were $802 million and represent 18.4% of gross revenues.
Total operating expenses were $1.3 billion for fiscal fourth quarter 2015, a 5% increase over the prior year’s adjusted results, primarily related to an increase in personnel, professional, and marketing expenses, additional depreciation from our ongoing investments in technology assets, offset by lower general and administrative expenses.
GAAP effective tax rate was 33.8% for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.
The weighted-average number of diluted class A common shares outstanding in the fiscal fourth quarter was 2.4 billion.
Cash, cash equivalents, and available-for-sale investment securities were $9.3 billion at September 30, 2015.
Fiscal Full-Year 2015 Financial Highlights:
For the fiscal full-year 2015, service revenues were $6.3 billion, an increase of 9% over the prior year. Data processing revenues rose 7% over the prior year to $5.6 billion. International transaction revenues, which are driven by cross-border volume, grew 14% over the prior year to $4.1 billion. Other revenues were $823 million, a 7% increase over the prior year. Client incentives, which are a contra revenue item, were $2.9 billion and represent 17.1% of gross revenues.
Total processed transactions, which represent transactions processed by VisaNet for the twelve months ended September 30, 2015, totaled 71.0 billion, a 9% increase over the prior year.
Total operating expenses were $4.8 billion for the twelve months ended September 30, 2015, a 6% increase over last year’s adjusted results, primarily related to continued investments in personnel, infrastructure and technology, offset by a reduction in marketing and network and processing fees.
GAAP effective tax rate was 29.6% for the twelve months ended September 30, 2015.
The weighted-average number of diluted class A common shares outstanding for the full year was 2.5 billion.
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