ATLANTA, Jan. 5 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) today announced results for its second quarter ended November 30, 2006. For the second quarter, revenue grew 19 percent to $260.7 million compared to $219.7 million in the prior year. Excluding the impact of current period stock option expense and prior year restructuring charges, diluted earnings per share grew 16 percent to $0.44 compared to $0.38 in the prior year quarter.
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For the six months ended November 30, 2006, revenue grew 17 percent to $521.0 million compared to $444.1 million in the prior year period. Excluding the impact of current period stock option expense and prior year restructuring charges, diluted earnings per share grew 29 percent to $0.99 from $0.77 in the prior year period.
In accordance with GAAP, both quarter and year-to-date prior period diluted earnings per share include certain restructuring charges (see attached reconciliation schedule) relating to an operating center consolidation, which was announced in July 2005. Additionally, both the current quarter and year-to-date periods include the recognition of stock option expenses as a result of the company’s June 1, 2006 adoption of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123( R ) using the modified prospective method. For the three and six months ended November 30, 2006, GAAP diluted earnings per share were $0.42 and $0.92, respectively, compared to $0.37 and $0.75, respectively, in the prior year periods.
Comments and Outlook
Chairman, President and CEO, Paul R. Garcia, stated, "We are pleased to report solid financial results for our fiscal 2007 second quarter, which were primarily due to expansion in our merchant services segment. Our domestic ISO channel continues to drive our merchant services revenue growth, in addition to a full quarter’s results from our new Asia-Pacific joint venture with HSBC. Our merchant services results also benefited from a favorable Canadian currency exchange rate compared to the prior year. Based on recent Canadian exchange rate movements, however, we do not expect to receive a similar benefit for the second half of our fiscal year. Lastly, our consumer money transfer segment reported strong revenue growth in the quarter, although we are anticipating slower growth in this area for the second half of our fiscal year due to a competitive pricing environment."
"Based on our first half results and our second half expectations, we are reaffirming the low end of our annual fiscal 2007 revenue guidance of $1,057 million, and reducing the high end of this guidance to $1,069 million. This revenue guidance reflects an expected 16 percent to 18 percent growth versus $908 million in fiscal 2006. In addition, we are reaffirming our annual fiscal 2007 diluted earnings per share guidance of $1.79 to $1.85, excluding the impact of stock option expenses as a result of our adoption of FAS 123R, for an expected growth of 16 percent to 20 percent versus $1.54 in fiscal 2006.(1) Including the impact of these stock option expenses, our annual fiscal 2007 diluted earnings per share guidance is $1.69 to $1.75," said Garcia.
Conference Call
Global Payments will hold a conference call today, January 5, 2007 at 10:30 a.m. ET to discuss financial results and business highlights. The conference call may be accessed by calling +1-888-791-2132 (U.S.) or
+1-517-623-4000 (internationally) and using a pass code of "GPN" for both numbers, or via Web cast at http://www.globalpaymentsinc.com . A replay of the call will be available on the Global Payments Web site through January 19, 2007.
About Global Payments Inc.
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) is a leading provider of electronic transaction processing services for consumers, merchants, Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs), financial institutions, government agencies and multi-national corporations located throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific. Global Payments offers a comprehensive line of processing solutions for credit and debit cards, business-to-business purchasing cards, gift cards, electronic check conversion and check guarantee, verification and recovery including electronic check services, as well as terminal management. The company also provides consumer money transfer services from the U.S. and Europe to destinations in Latin America, Morocco and the Philippines. For more information about the company and its services, visit http://www.globalpaymentsinc.com .
(1) Fiscal 2006 diluted earnings per share was $1.53 on a GAAP basis,
which includes restructuring charges equivalent to $0.01 in diluted
earnings per share.
This announcement and comments made by Global Payments’ management during the conference call may contain forward-looking statements pursuant to the "safe-harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties such as product demand, market and customer acceptance, the effect of economic conditions, competition, pricing, development difficulties, foreign currency risks, costs of capital, continued certification by credit card associations, the ability to consummate and integrate acquisitions, and other risks detailed in the company’s SEC filings, including the most recently filed Form 10-Q or Form 10-K, as applicable. The company undertakes no obligation to revise any of these statements to reflect future circumstances or the occurrence of unanticipated events.
