Global Payments Reports Q2 Earnings

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ATLANTAJan. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) today announced results for its fiscal second quarter ended November 30, 2011.  For the second quarter, revenues grew 20% to $530.5 million compared to $443.5 million in the prior fiscal year.  Cash earnings per share grew 13% to $0.86 compared to $0.76 in the prior year (See Schedule 2 for Cash Earnings).  On a GAAP basis, the company reported fiscal 2012 second quarter diluted earnings per share of$0.78 compared to $0.67 in the prior year (See Schedule 1 for GAAP Consolidated Statements of Income).
GAAP and cash earnings per share results include approximately $15 million of revenue and nearly $0.02 of earnings per share related to debit interchange legislation with corresponding unfavorable impact on operating margin.
Chairman and CEO Paul R. Garcia stated, "We delivered solid second quarter results driven by continued steady performances in all of our businesses and the December 2010 addition of Spain.  I am also pleased to announce three targeted merchant portfolio acquisitions which will expand our international footprint and U.S. ecommerce presence.  First, we increased our distribution inRussia by acquiring a merchant business with more than 6,000 merchants from Alfa-Bank.  Secondly, we have agreed to acquire HSBC's merchant business in Malta consisting of nearly 4,000 merchants, which is pending regulatory approval, and thirdly we have signed an agreement to acquire CyberSource's U.S. merchant acquiring portfolio from Visa.  
"I am pleased to note that we continue to expect overall total company cash margin expansion of as much as 50 basis points in fiscal 2012 excluding the effect of recent debit legislation and the acquisitions," continued Mr. Garcia.  
David E. Mangum, Senior Executive Vice President and CFO, stated, "Including the effect of the debit legislation as well as the three recent acquisitions, we are increasing our annual revenue expectations for fiscal 2012 to $2,150 million to $2,200 million, or 16% to 18% growth over fiscal 2011.  We are also increasing fiscal 2012 diluted earnings per share expectations on a cash basis to a range of $3.50 to $3.58, reflecting 14% to 16% growth over fiscal 2011 and annual fiscal 2012 GAAP diluted earnings per share to $3.14 to $3.22, reflecting 20% to 23% growth over the prior year."  (See Schedule 9 for Outlook Summary.)
Cash earnings exclude normalized adjustments and acquisition intangible amortization expense from continuing operations.  (See Schedule 6 and 7 for Reconciliations of Cash Earnings to GAAP, Schedule 2 for Cash Earnings and Schedule 3 for Segment Information on GAAP and Cash Earnings).
Conference Call
Global Payments will hold a conference call today, January 5, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. EST to discuss financial results and business highlights.  Callers may access the conference call via the investor relations page of the Company's Web site atwww.globalpaymentsinc.com by clicking the "Webcast" button; or callers in North America may dial 1-888-895-3550 and callers outside North America may dial 1-706-758-8809.  The pass code is "GPN."  A replay of the call may be accessed through the Global Payments Web site through January 19, 2012.