The US payment system PayPal Holdings saw its net profit fall by 12% in the second quarter, despite a rise in revenue, whilst adjusted profit and revenue exceeded market expectations.
According to the company’s press release, net profit for April–June stood at $1.1 billion, or $1.25 per share, compared with $1.26 billion, or $1.29 per share, for the same period last year. Earnings excluding one-off items stood at $1.38 per share.
Quarterly revenue rose by 5 per cent to $8.68 billion.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had, on average, expected adjusted earnings of $1.28 per share on revenue of $8.47 billion.
The total value of payments processed on PayPal’s platforms rose by 10% last quarter to $486.45 billion. Excluding the impact of exchange rate fluctuations, growth stood at 9%. The number of transactions processed increased by 8 per cent to 6.75 billion. The number of active accounts on the PayPal system rose by 0.3 per cent over the year to 439 million.
The Board of Directors has declared a dividend of $0.14 per share. The payment is scheduled for 25 September, with the record date set for 4 September.
In the second quarter, PayPal returned $1.5 billion to shareholders through the buyback of approximately 33 million shares.
For the full year, the company still expects a 4–6 per cent (mid-single digit) decline in net profit per share, but the adjusted figure is now forecast at $5.38 per share, rather than the previously expected range of a 1–3 per cent (low-single digit) decline to a slight increase compared with last year’s $5.31 per share.
In the third quarter, net and adjusted earnings per share are expected to fall by 1–3 per cent (low single-digit).
PayPal shares fell by 2.3 per cent during Tuesday’s trading session.