MA MasterCard Incorporated

By Imani Moise 

Mastercard Inc. reported higher-than-expected sales and profit in the most recent quarter as the company continued to benefit from increased spending driven by higher consumer confidence.

Shares climbed 4.7% to $188.68 during premarket trading, putting the stock on track to open above its record closing price of $183.24 set last month and its intraday high of $183.73.

Earlier this year, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that U.S. households are carrying the highest levels of debt on record, adding about $26 billion to credit-card balances in the final months of 2017. Consumer confidence, as measured in one index, also reached a 14-year high in March as people reported feeling more optimistic about the economy.

Gross dollar volume, or the total value of all transactions using the company's credit cards, rose 14% to $1.42 trillion, while purchase volume increased 14% to $1.04 trillion.

The payment giant said revenue jumped 31% to $3.58 billion, topping the $3.25 billion forecast by analysts. The company's top-line was helped by acquisitions and an increase in cardholders using their cards outside of the country they are issued in. Cross-border volume fees surged 21% during the quarter.

The company ended the quarter with 2.4 billion Mastercard and Maestro-branded cardholders.

Over all for the quarter, the Purchase, N.Y., company reported a profit of $1.49 billion, or $1.41 a share, up from $1.08 billion, or $1 a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, earnings rose to 49% to $1.50 a share, compared with the $1.25 projected by Thomson Reuters.

Mastercard's stock has gained 19% so far this year while the S&P 500 has inched 0.7% lower.

Write to Imani Moise at imani.moise@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 02, 2018 09:32 ET (13:32 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.