DENVER, Colo. -- First Data Corp., the nation's largest processor of credit-card transactions, said its 2003 second-quarter net income rose 18 percent to $353.8 million, or 47 cents a share, from $298.6 million, or 39 cents a share, a year earlier.
The increase was attributed to higher revenue from its Western Union money transfer unit, according to a Reuters report. The company continued to increase the number of Western Union locations outside the U.S., and expects to have more than 180,000 sites worldwide by the end of 2003.
Wall Street analysts had expected the company to earn 47 cents a share.
Total revenue rose 12 percent in 2003's second quarter, to $2.11 billion from $1.89 billion.
The U.S. Department of Justice has requested more information from First Data about its plans to buy Concord EFS Inc. for about $7 billion. The combination of First Data's majority interest in the NYCE network with Concord's Star, MAC and Cash Station would make it the nation's largest ATM network operator and would give it control of about 70 percent of the market for PIN-based debit transactions.
First Data said it expects to meet its full year estimates of $1.87 to $1.93 a share.
