MasterCard shares were up more than 1.5%, up $1.15 cents to 74.73 in pre-market trading on Thursday, as the world's number two payments network racked-up first quarter profit that managed to beat analysts estimates thanks to an increase in consumer spending.
Net income rose 14% to $870 million, or 73 cents a share, from $766 million, or 62 cents, a year earlier, the credit card giant firm said Thursday, in a statement.
"We kicked off the year with a strong quarter, despite a mixed global economy," said CEO Ajay Banga, in a statement.
A big plus for MasterCard in the first quarter: new business partners. MasterCard has inked hefty, new agreements with three retailing giants: Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and Target. New business partners means new consumer customers and increased spending.
Both Wal-Mart and Sam's Club will flip their co-brand portfolios to MasterCard, Banga said. And this week, Target announced it will shift its co-brand to MasterCard and use its chip and PIN technology across all of MasterCard's card products.
A few weeks ago, MasterCard also announced it was buying Pinpoint, a top provider of loyalty and rewards services to financial institutions across the Asia Pacific region. That's a key growth area for MasterCard.
Meanwhile, Banga said that MasterCard will continue to invest in technology and acquisitions that will speed its development of mobile and online solutions.
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