Visa adjusted profit rises as consumer confidence improves

(Reuters) - Visa Inc , the world's largest credit and debit card company, reported a better-than-expected adjusted quarterly profit as improving consumer confidence worldwide encouraged more shoppers to use plastic.

Visa's shares rose 4.6 percent to $224.59 in extended trading.

On an adjusted basis, the company's net income rose 14 percent to $1.4 billion, or $2.18 per Class A share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30.

Consumer confidence in the same period improved globally as concerns about the economy and job prospects eased, according to a survey by global information company Nielsen.

U.S. consumer confidence also rose in August to its highest since October 2007.

 

Visa's total operating revenue rose 8.6 percent to $3.23 billion.

Analysts on average had expected a profit of $2.10 per share on revenue of $3.19 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net income fell to $1.07 billion, or $1.72 per Class A share, in the fourth quarter from $1.19 billion, or $1.85 per Class A share, a year earlier, as Visa booked a pre-tax $450 million litigation provision.

Visa's payment volume growth on a constant dollar basis rose 11 percent to $1.2 trillion in the quarter.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Robin Paxton)