Mastercard profit beats estimates on overall spending boost

Mastercard Inc reported a 36% rise in second-quarter profit on Thursday that comfortably beat estimates, underpinned by a recovery in global spending as businesses start to reopen and travel shows signs of a rebound.

The company's shares rose about 2% in premarket trading as the upbeat results rounded out a positive quarter from payment processors including Visa Inc and American Express Co.

Mastercard's cross-border volumes, which track spending on its cards beyond the country of issue, rose 58% on a local currency basis, driven by a pickup in international travel.

Volumes had plunged 45% in the same period a year ago.

"International travel is still in the early stages of recovery and represents additional upside potential," Chief Executive Officer Michael Miebach said in a statement.

Cross-border volumes were the biggest headwind for Mastercard last quarter as COVID-19 travel curbs and border restrictions dampened international spending. The metric tumbled 17% at Mastercard in the previous quarter compared with an 11% fall at Visa.

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Consumer spending saw a spike during the quarter due to massive government stimulus packages, sending Mastercard's gross dollar volumes, or the dollar value of the transactions processed, up 33% on a local currency basis to $1.9 trillion.

Net income, excluding exceptional items, rose to $1.9 billion, or $1.95 per share, from $1.4 billion, or $1.36 per share a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected a profit of $1.75 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data.