Visa Inc. (V, Financial) reported its financial results for the last quarter of fiscal 2017 before the market opened Oct. 25.
The California-based financial services company closed the quarter with earnings per share of 90 cents, up 14% from the prior-year quarter. Net income was $2.1 billion, an 8.8% increase from $1.93 billion last year. The company beat earnings expectations by five cents, producing a 6.92% surprise.Â
Quarterly revenue came in at $4.86 billion, which represents a 14% increase year over year. Visa beat revenue expectations by $230 million.
The company attributes the revenue growth to “continued growth in payments volume, cross-border volume and processed transactions.”
The company also reported its full-year results. CEO Alfred F. Kelly Jr. commented on the company's performance:
“Visa ended our fiscal year as we began, with strong growth across payments volume, cross-border volume and processed transactions, which was bolstered by the addition of Visa Europe. We’re very pleased with our progress in Europe and will continue to make strategic investments that will further strengthen our franchise there and globally. As we look ahead to fiscal 2018, we are positioned for sustained growth and remain confident in our ability to continue delivering strong shareholder value.”
Visa is trading around $108.41 per share New York Stock Exchange with a price-book (P/B) ratio of 9.40, a price-sales (P/S) ratio of 14.72 and a price-earnings (P/E) ratio of 40.30.
The company has a forward P/E ratio of 26.95. For full fiscal 2018, analysts forecast earnings of $4 per share.
Visa distributes an annual dividend of 78 cents through quarterly payments of 19.5 cents, for a dividend yield of 0.73%, which is far below the S&P 500's current dividend yield of 1.88%.
The company said it “returned approximately $2.1 billion of capital to shareholders in the form of share repurchases and dividends” during the fourth quarter and “returned approximately $8.5 billion of capital to shareholders in the form of share repurchases and dividends” for the whole year.
For fiscal 2018, Visa expects high single-digit revenue growth.
The company closed the final quarter of fiscal 2017 with approximately $15.3 billion in cash on hand and securities. The free cash flow was $2.6 billion, while capital expenditures were $195 million.
Disclosure: I have no positions in Visa.
