(Reuters) – Payments processor Mastercard on Wednesday reported an 11% jump in fourth-quarter profit, driven by resilient consumer spending during the holiday season as labor markets remained strong and fears of a recession eased.
The company reported a profit of $2.8 billion, or $2.97 per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with $2.5 billion, or $2.62 per share, a year earlier.
Growing expectations of a “soft landing” – where inflation cools without tipping the economy into a recession – has boosted consumer confidence.
A survey by the University of Michigan showed that U.S. consumer sentiment hit its highest level in 2-1/2 years in January.
Gross dollar volume, the dollar value of all transactions processed on Mastercard’s platform, climbed 10%.
Cross-border volume, a gauge of travel demand that tracks spending on cards outside the country of their issue, jumped 18%.
Net revenue rose 13% to $6.5 billion, Mastercard said.
Last week, Visa also reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, thanks to a strong holiday season.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant and Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru)
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