Visa profits rise 27% as pandemic wanes and economies open
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By KEN SWEET
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Visa’s fiscal first-quarter profits rose 27%, as improving economies worldwide as well as more people using digital payments helped lift the company’s fortunes. The San Francisco-based company said Thursday that it earned $3.96 billion, or $1.81 a share, up from a profit of $3.13 billion, or $1.42 a share, in the same period a year ago. The results easily topped Wall Street’s forecasts. Visa brought in slightly more than $7 billion in revenues in the quarter, a record for the company. Most of that revenue gain came from a hefty 17% jump in the amount of money spent on Visa’s payment network last quarter.