Visa Inc. Reports Strong Fiscal Fourth Quarter Adjusted Earnings Per Share Growth of 14% and Full-Year 2015 Adjusted Earnings Per Share Growth of 16% and Announces a New $5.0 Billion Share Repurchase Program

• GAAP quarterly net income of $1.5 billion or $0.62 per diluted class A common share, an increase of 41% and 44% over the prior year, respectively, or an increase of 12% and 14% over the prior year’s adjusted results, respectively
• GAAP full-year 2015 net income of $6.3 billion or $2.58 per diluted class A common share, an increase of 16% and 20% over the prior year, respectively
• Adjusted full-year 2015 net income of $6.4 billion or $2.62 per diluted class A common share, an increase of 13% and 16% over the prior year’s adjusted results, respectively
• The Company authorized a new $5.0 billion repurchase program, in addition to the previously announced 17% quarterly per share dividend increase

FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 2, 2015-- Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) today announced financial results for the Company’s fiscal fourth quarter and full-year 2015. GAAP net income in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2015 was $1.5 billion or $0.62 per share, an increase of 41% and 44% over the prior year, respectively. GAAP net income for the full-year 2015 was $6.3 billion or $2.58 per share, an increase of 16% and 20% over the prior year, respectively. All references to earnings per share assume fully-diluted class A share count unless otherwise noted.

Net income in the fiscal fourth quarter was $1.5 billion or $0.62 per share, an increase of 12% and 14% over the prior year adjusted results, respectively. Adjusted net income for the full-year 2015 was $6.4 billion or $2.62 per share, an increase of 13% and 16% over the prior year’s adjusted results, respectively. The Company’s full-year 2015 adjusted financial results excluded a non-cash, non-operating expense recorded upon the revaluation of the Visa Europe put option of $110 million. The Company’s 2015 results included a one-time tax benefit of $239 million resulting from the successful resolution of uncertain tax positions with taxing authorities during the fiscal third quarter that related to prior years. Prior year adjusted results excluded the impact of a special item related to amounts covered by the retrospective responsibility plan and related tax benefit during the fiscal fourth quarter. Prior year results also included a one-time tax benefit of $191 million related to a deduction for prior years’ U.S. domestic production activities during the fiscal second quarter.

Net operating revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2015 was $3.6 billion, an increase of 11% nominally or 13% on a constant dollar basis over the prior year. The strengthening of the U.S. dollar versus the prior year quarter negatively impacted net operating revenue growth by approximately 3 percentage points.

Net operating revenue for the fiscal full-year 2015 was $13.9 billion, an increase of 9% nominally or 12% on a constant dollar basis over the prior year, driven by solid revenue growth contributions from service, data processing and international transaction revenues. The strengthening of the U.S. dollar versus the prior year negatively impacted net operating revenue growth by approximately 2.5 percentage points.

Adjusted quarterly and full-year operating expenses and net income per class A common share outstanding are non-GAAP financial measures that are reconciled to their most directly comparable GAAP measures in the accompanying financial tables.

“Visa’s fiscal fourth quarter was a strong finish to an equally strong fiscal full-year 2015 in terms of revenue and earnings per share growth in the face of a continued challenging global economic environment. The underlying growth of our franchise continued as evidenced by our strong payments volumes as well as new and renewed partnerships during the year. Most importantly, we continued to build our capabilities at the physical point-of-sale as well as in the digital space,” said Charlie Scharf, Chief Executive Officer of Visa Inc. “Although fiscal 2016 reported growth rates will be negatively impacted by a strong US dollar and an uneven global economy, we are well positioned for strong success in 2017 and well beyond.”

Fiscal Fourth Quarter 2015 Financial Highlights:

Payments volume growth, on a constant dollar basis, for the three months ended June 30, 2015, on which fiscal fourth quarter service revenue is recognized, was 11% over the prior year at $1.3 trillion.

Payments volume growth, on a constant dollar basis, for the three months ended September 30, 2015, was 12% over the prior year at $1.3 trillion.

Cross-border volume growth, on a constant dollar basis, was 5% for the three months ended September 30, 2015.

Total processed transactions, which represent transactions processed by VisaNet, for the three months ended September 30, 2015, were 18.4 billion, an 8% increase over the prior year.

Fiscal fourth quarter 2015 service revenues were $1.6 billion, an increase of 9% over the prior year, and are recognized based on payments volume in the prior quarter. All other revenue categories are recognized based on current quarter activity. Data processing revenues rose 6% over the prior year to $1.4 billion. International transaction revenues grew 16% over the prior year to $1.1 billion. Other revenues were $216 million, a 3% increase over the prior year. Client incentives, which are a contra revenue item, were $802 million and represent 18.4% of gross revenues.

Total operating expenses were $1.3 billion for fiscal fourth quarter 2015, a 5% increase over the prior year’s adjusted results, primarily related to an increase in personnel, professional, and marketing expenses, additional depreciation from our ongoing investments in technology assets, offset by lower general and administrative expenses.

GAAP effective tax rate was 33.8% for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.

The weighted-average number of diluted class A common shares outstanding in the fiscal fourth quarter was 2.4 billion.

Cash, cash equivalents, and available-for-sale investment securities were $9.3 billion at September 30, 2015.

Fiscal Full-Year 2015 Financial Highlights:

For the fiscal full-year 2015, service revenues were $6.3 billion, an increase of 9% over the prior year. Data processing revenues rose 7% over the prior year to $5.6 billion. International transaction revenues, which are driven by cross-border volume, grew 14% over the prior year to $4.1 billion. Other revenues were $823 million, a 7% increase over the prior year. Client incentives, which are a contra revenue item, were $2.9 billion and represent 17.1% of gross revenues.

Total processed transactions, which represent transactions processed by VisaNet for the twelve months ended September 30, 2015, totaled 71.0 billion, a 9% increase over the prior year.

Total operating expenses were $4.8 billion for the twelve months ended September 30, 2015, a 6% increase over last year’s adjusted results, primarily related to continued investments in personnel, infrastructure and technology, offset by a reduction in marketing and network and processing fees.

GAAP effective tax rate was 29.6% for the twelve months ended September 30, 2015.

The weighted-average number of diluted class A common shares outstanding for the full year was 2.5 billion.

Notable Events:

During the three months ended September 30, 2015, the Company did not repurchase shares of class A common stock. During the twelve months ended September 30, 2015, class A common stock was reduced by 44.1 million shares, at an average price of $65.98 per share, using $2.9 billion of cash on hand. At September 30, 2015, the Company had $2.8 billion of remaining funds, authorized by the board of directors, available for share repurchase under the current program.

As announced on October 21, 2015, the board of directors declared a quarterly dividend in the aggregate amount of $0.14 per share of class A common stock (determined in the case of class B and class C common stock on an as-converted basis) payable on December 1, 2015, to all holders of record of the Company’s class A, class B and class C common stock as of November 13, 2015.

The board of directors has authorized a new $5.0 billion class A common stock share repurchase program. The shares may be repurchased from time to time as market conditions warrant, and authorization for the program is subject to further change at the discretion of the board.

Financial Outlook:

Visa Inc. provides its financial outlook for the following metrics for fiscal full-year 2016:

• Annual net revenue growth: High single-digit to low double-digit range on a constant dollar basis, with an expectation of about three percentage points of negative foreign currency impact;
• Client incentives as a percent of gross revenues: 17.5% to 18.5% range;
• Annual operating margin: Mid 60s;
• Tax rate: Low 30s;
• Annual adjusted diluted class A common stock earnings per share growth: Low-end of the mid-teens range on a constant dollar basis, with an expectation of about four percentage points of negative foreign currency impact; and
• Annual free cash flow: About $7 billion.

The financial outlook for fiscal full-year 2016 does not include any impact from the Visa Europe transaction.

Fiscal Fourth Quarter 2015 Earnings Results Conference Call Details:

Visa’s executive management team will host a live audio webcast beginning at 5:00 a.m. Pacific Time (8:00 a.m. Eastern Time) today to discuss the financial results and business highlights for the quarter, as well as the Visa Europe transaction. The dial-in information for the call is 888-790-4410 (within the United States) or 773-756-0127 (international). The conference passcode is 7974435. A replay of the call will be available until December 1 and can be accessed by dialing 800-925-1967. The live call and replay, along with supporting materials, can also be accessed through the Investor Relations section of Visa’s website at www.investor.visa.com. A replay of the webcast will be available on Visa’s Investor Relations website for 30 days.

About Visa

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world's most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — that is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, pay ahead of time with prepaid or pay later with credit products. For more information, visit usa.visa.com/about-visa, visacorporate.tumblr.com and @VisaNews.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This Press Release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are identified by words such as "estimates," "expectation," "outlook", "may," "projects," "could," "should," "will," "will continue" and other similar expressions. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements we make about our revenue, client incentives, operating margin, tax rate, earnings per share, free cash flow, and the growth of those items.

By their nature, forward-looking statements: (i) speak only as of the date they are made; (ii) are not statements of historical fact or guarantees of future performance; and (iii) are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions or changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict or quantify. Therefore, actual results could differ materially and adversely from our forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including the following:

• the impact of laws, regulations and marketplace barriers, including:
  • increased regulation of fees, transaction routing, payment card practices or other aspects of the payments industry in the United States, including new or revised regulations issued under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act;
  • increased regulation in jurisdictions outside of the United States;
  • increased government support of national payment networks outside the United States; and
  • increased regulation of consumer privacy, data use and security;

• developments in litigation and government enforcement, including those affecting interchange reimbursement fees, antitrust and tax;
• new lawsuits, investigations or proceedings, or changes to our potential exposure in connection with pending lawsuits, investigations or proceedings;
• economic factors, such as:
  • economic fragility in the Eurozone, the United States and in other advanced and emerging markets;
  • general economic, political and social conditions in mature and emerging markets globally;
  • general stock market fluctuations which may impact consumer spending;
  • material changes in cross-border activity, foreign exchange controls and fluctuations in currency exchange rates; and
  • material changes in our financial institution clients' performance compared to our estimates;
• industry developments, such as competitive pressure, rapid technological developments and disintermediation from our payments network;
• system developments, such as:
  • disruption of our transaction processing systems or the inability to process transactions efficiently;
  • account data breaches or increased fraudulent or other illegal activities involving Visa-branded cards or payment products; and
  • failure to maintain systems interoperability with Visa Europe;

• any prospective transaction with Visa Europe may not be agreed to or implemented;
• costs arising if we become obligated to purchase all of Visa Europe’s outstanding capital stock;
• the loss of organizational effectiveness or key employees;
• the failure to integrate acquisitions successfully or to effectively develop new products and businesses;
• natural disasters, terrorist attacks, military or political conflicts, and public health emergencies; and
• various other factors, including those more fully described in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2014, and our subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K.

You should not place undue reliance on such statements. Except as required by law, we do not intend to update or revise any forward–looking statements as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

Operational Performance Data

The tables below provide information regarding the available operational results for the 3 months ended September 30, 2015, as well as the prior four quarterly reporting periods and the 12 months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014, for cards carrying the Visa, Visa Electron and Interlink brands.

1. Branded Volume and Transactions

The tables present regional total volume, payments volume, and cash volume, and the number of payments transactions, cash transactions, accounts and cards for cards carrying the Visa, Visa Electron and Interlink brands. Card counts include PLUS proprietary cards. Nominal and constant dollar growth rates over prior years are provided for volume-based data.