Visa quarterly earnings rise 41 percent

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Visa Inc (V.N), the world's largest credit card network, said on Wednesday that quarterly earnings rose 41 percent, beating estimates, as credit and debit card processing volume jumped globally.

The results were better than the average forecast of analysts, according to Reuters Estimates, and the company's shares edged higher in after-hours trading.

Investors are watching credit card processors closely for evidence that slowing economic growth is weighing on results. Visa makes money from processing transactions and does not lend, making it immune to credit concerns, but exposed to overall spending volume, whose growth could slow if the economy weakens enough.

Offsetting the potential for spending volume to slow is the fact that more consumers globally, particularly in the developing world, are embracing credit and debit cards for everyday spending.

"Visa continues to ... benefit from the global migration to electronic payments," Joe Saunders, Visa's chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Visa said payments volume grew 19 percent for the quarter ended March 31. Volume in that quarter translates to revenue in the quarter ended June 30. Growth came from the U.S., but also Asia and Latin America, among other places.

With that growth, Visa boosted its forecast for operating margins for the year to the mid-to-high 40-percent region, compared with its prior estimates of the low 40 percent area.

Visa said net income for the fiscal third quarter ended June 30 was $422 million, or 51 cents per class A share, compared with pro forma results of $299 million in the same quarter a year earlier, when the company was privately held.

Excluding litigation, restructuring and other expenses and items, the company earned 59 cents per class A share, compared with analysts' average forecast of 50 cents a share.

Total operating revenue rose to $1.61 billion from $1.37 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. International transaction fee revenue rose 44 percent to $449 million.

Visa shares rose 1.6 percent to $79.70 in after-hours trade. The company's shares trade at about 30 times expected fiscal 2009 earnings, a significantly higher multiple than the broader market.

Visa went public in March at $44 a share in the biggest U.S. initial public offering ever, and has since risen about 78 percent while the Standard & Poor's 500 index .SPX is essentially unchanged.

(Reporting by Dan Wilchins; Editing by Ted Kerr, Phil Berlowitz)