Visa profit up on rising payment volume, $1B share buyback

Visa Inc. (V-N) said Wednesday quarterly profit rose by 40 percent, on a higher volume of global payments and a gain from revaluing its Visa Europe put option.

San Francisco-based Visa also announced plans to buy back $1 billion US in Class A common shares, under a board authorization that expires in July 2012.

The credit card payment processor reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $1 billion, or $1.43 per Class A common share, up from $716 million, or 97 cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding the one-time, noncash gain on its Visa Europe put option, Visa earned $883 million, or $1.26 per share.

Analysts estimated the credit card payment processor would report net income of $1.23 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net operating revenue increased 14 percent to $2.3 billion from a year ago.