Visa Inc. Reports Strong Fiscal Fourth Quarter Adjusted Earnings Per Share Growth of 17% and Full-Year 2014 Adjusted Earnings Per Share Growth of 19% and Announces a New $5.0 Billion Share Repurchase Program

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) today announced financial results for the Company’s fiscal fourth quarter and full-year 2014. GAAP net income in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2014 was $1.1 billion or $1.72 per share, a decrease of 10% and 7% over the prior year, respectively. GAAP net income for the full-year 2014 was $5.4 billion or $8.62 per share, an increase of 9% and 14% over the prior year, respectively. All references to earnings per share assume fully-diluted class A share count unless otherwise noted.

On an adjusted basis, the Company’s financial results excluded the impact of a special item related to amounts covered by the retrospective responsibility plan of $450 million and related tax benefit during the fiscal fourth quarter. On an adjusted basis, net income in the fiscal fourth quarter was $1.4 billion or $2.18 per share, an increase of 14% and 17% over the prior year, respectively. On an adjusted basis, net income for the full-year 2014 was $5.7 billion or $9.07 per share, an increase of 15% and 19% over the prior year, respectively.

GAAP net operating revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2014 was $3.2 billion, an increase of 9% nominally or 10% 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 about 1.5 percentage points.

GAAP net operating revenue for the full-year 2014 was $12.7 billion, an increase of 8% nominally or 10% on a constant dollar basis over the prior year, driven by solid revenue growth contributions from service and data processing revenues. The strengthening of the U.S. dollar versus the prior year negatively impacted net operating revenue growth by about 2 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.

"Our enviable competitive position, strong business model, and great talent helped us deliver adjusted EPS growth of 17% for the fourth quarter and 19% for the full year in the face of continued tepid economic growth and a strengthening dollar. More importantly, the underlying metrics which will drive our revenue growth over the longer term are strong and getting stronger," said Charlie Scharf, Chief Executive Officer of Visa Inc. "Our partnerships are growing, our capabilities are improving, and the opportunity for Visa to disintermediate cash across the globe is bigger than ever. Our investments in Visa Checkout, Visa Token Services, and Visa Digital Solutions are just beginning to have an impact in the marketplace. We will continue to invest in these and other areas and remain confident in our ability to capture the growing opportunity in payments."

Fiscal Fourth Quarter 2014 Financial Highlights:

Payments volume growth, on a constant dollar basis, for the three months ended June 30, 2014, on which fiscal fourth quarter service revenue is recognized, was 12% over the prior year at $1.2 trillion.

Payments volume growth, on a constant dollar basis, for the three months ended September 30, 2014, was 11% over the prior year at $1.2 trillion.

Cross-border volume growth, on a constant dollar basis, was 10% for the three months ended September 30, 2014.

Total processed transactions, which represent transactions processed by VisaNet, for the three months ended September 30, 2014, were 16.9 billion, a 9% increase over the prior year.

Fiscal fourth quarter 2014 service revenues were $1.5 billion, an increase of 8% 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 14% over the prior year to $1.3 billion. International transaction revenues grew 4% over the prior year to $938 million. Other revenues, which include the Visa Europe licensing fee, were $212 million, a 16% increase over the prior year. Client incentives, which are a contra revenue item, were $768 million and represent 19.2% of gross revenues.

The Company recorded a $450 million pre-tax litigation provision, or $283 million on an after-tax basis, in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2014 related to the interchange multidistrict litigation case.

Excluding the covered litigation provision, total adjusted operating expenses were $1.2 billion for fiscal fourth quarter 2014, flat over the prior year results, primarily related to a reduction in professional fees offset by increases in general and administrative costs and other corporate expenses to support the Company’s global business growth initiatives.

GAAP effective tax rate was 30.8% for the quarter ended September 30, 2014.

The weighted-average number of diluted class A common shares outstanding in the fiscal fourth quarter was 623 million.

Cash, cash equivalents, and available-for-sale investment securities were $6.9 billion at September 30, 2014.

Fiscal Full-Year 2014 Financial Highlights:

For the fiscal full-year 2014, service revenues were $5.8 billion, an increase of 8% over the prior year. Data processing revenues rose 11% over the prior year to $5.2 billion. International transaction revenues, which are driven by cross-border volume, grew 5% over the prior year to $3.6 billion. Other revenues, which include the Visa Europe licensing fee, were $770 million, a 7% increase over the prior year. Client incentives, which are a contra revenue item, were $2.6 billion and represent 16.9% of gross revenues.

Total processed transactions, which represent transactions processed by VisaNet for the twelve months ended September 30, 2014, totaled 64.9 billion, an 11% increase over the prior year.

Excluding the aforementioned litigation provision, total adjusted operating expenses were $4.6 billion for the twelve months ended September 30, 2014, flat over the prior year adjusted results, primarily related to a reduction in professional fees and personnel, offset by continued investments in infrastructure, technology and network processing to support the Company’s global growth initiatives.

GAAP effective tax rate was 29.6% for the twelve months ended September 30, 2014.

The weighted-average number of diluted class A common shares outstanding for the full year was 631 million.

Notable Events:

During the three months ended September 30, 2014, total as-converted class A common stock was reduced by 5.7 million shares which was funded from $1.2 billion of our operating cash on hand. Of the $1.2 billion, $756 million was used to repurchase 3.6 million shares of class A common stock in the open market, at an average price of $211.19. In addition, we deposited $450 million from our operating cash into the litigation escrow account previously established under the retrospective responsibility plan. This deposit has the same economic effect on earnings per share as repurchasing the Company's class A common stock as it reduces the as-converted class B common stock share count.

During the twelve months ended September 30, 2014, total as-converted class A common stock was reduced by 21.8 million shares, at an average price of $209.15 per share, using $4.6 billion of cash on hand. Of the $4.6 billion, $4.1 billion was used to repurchase shares of class A common stock in the open market at an average price of $208.50. At September 30, 2014, the Company had $682 million of remaining funds, authorized by the board of directors, available for share repurchase under the current program.

As announced on October 22, 2014, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend in the aggregate amount of $0.48 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 2, 2014, to all holders of record of the Company’s class A, class B and class C common stock as of November 14, 2014.

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 2015:

• Annual net revenue growth: Constant dollar revenue growth of low double digits, with an expectation of two 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 diluted class A common stock earnings per share growth: Mid teens; and
• Annual free cash flow greater than $6 billion.

Fiscal full-year 2015 annual diluted earnings per share growth assumes an adjusted basis for fiscal full-year 2014.

Fiscal Fourth Quarter 2014 Earnings Results Conference Call Details:

Visa’s executive management team will host a live audio webcast beginning at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (2:00 p.m. Pacific Time) today to discuss the financial results and business highlights. All interested parties are invited to listen to the live webcast at http://investor.visa.com. A replay of the webcast will be available on the Visa Investor Relations website for 30 days. Investor information, including supplemental financial information, is available on Visa Inc.’s Investor Relations website at http://investor.visa.com.

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 56,000 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 "believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "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:

• rules capping debit interchange reimbursement rates and expanding financial institutions' and merchants' choices among debit payment networks promulgated under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act;

• increased regulation in jurisdictions outside of the United States and in other product categories;

• increased government support of national payment networks outside the United States; and

• increased regulation on 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 and in the United States;

• 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;

• costs arising if Visa Europe were to exercise its right to require us to acquire all of its outstanding 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 contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2013 and our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Additional information will also be available in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2014. 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, 2014, as well as the prior four quarterly reporting periods and the 12 months ended September 30, 2014 and 2013, for cards carrying the Visa, Visa Electron and Interlink brands. Also included is a table with information on the number of billable transactions processed on Visa Inc.’s CyberSource network.

1. Branded Volume and Transactions

The tables present 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.