MasterCard revenue misses as consumers rein in spending

Net income rose to $700 million, or $5.55 per share, from $608 million, or $4.76 per share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 9 percent to $1.82 billion. On a constant currency basis, revenue rose 13 percent.

The card network also took a pre-tax charge of $20 million, related to its share of the settlement in the 'swipe fee' lawsuit.

Excluding the charge, the company earned $5.65 per share.

Analysts on average had expected a profit of $5.58 per share, excluding items, on revenue of $1.87 billion according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

MasterCard, along with rival Visa Inc and banks that issue their credit cards, agreed to a $7.25 billion settlement with U.S. retailers in a lawsuit over the fixing of debit and credit card fees.

MasterCard had already set aside $770 million to cover most of its $790 million liability.

SPENDING GROWTH SLOWS

Cardholders made $661 billion of purchases worldwide, on a local currency basis, during the second quarter, up 13 percent. Worldwide purchase volume has grown at more than 15 percent for the last four quarter.

Card payments outside the United States grew 18.6 percent, in local currencies, compared with 8.7 percent growth in the United States.

The network has reported double-digit growth in U.S. card payments over the last year.

Card rival American Express also indicated slowing spending growth when it reported results last month.

Shares of the company, which has a market value of over $55 billion, fell 3 percent to $421.95 in trading before the bell. They closed at $436.57 on Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Jochelle Mendonca in Bangalore; Editing by Supriya Kurane)

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