LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / October 6, 2016 / Active Wall St. announces its post-earnings coverage on Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN). The company released its fiscal 2017 first quarter results on October 05th, 2016. The company delivered better-than-expected earnings and boosted its earnings outlook for the year. Register with us now for your free membership at: http://www.activewallst.com/register/.

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Earnings Reviewed

For the quarter ended on August 31st, 2016, Global Payments reported net income of $85.09 million, or $0.55 per share, down from $86.65 million, or $0.66 per share, in the year earlier period. Excluding certain items, earnings increased to $0.86 per share from $0.79 per share in Q1 FY16 and came in above consensus estimates of $0.84 per share.

Global Payments' GAAP revenue grew 25% from $748.8 million to $939.5 million; adjusted net revenues jumped 52 % to $817.3 million from $537.0 million. Adjusted revenues were ahead of analysts' projections of $812 million.

"Our fiscal 2017 is off to a terrific start, with organic growth accelerating sequentially across our key markets in the first quarter," said Jeff Sloan, Chief Executive Officer,

"Heartland continued its strong growth momentum in the United States. Our businesses in Europe performed exceptionally well, and our Asia business produced its highest rate of organic revenue growth in several quarters."

Revenue by Geography

On a geographical basis, Global payments reported that non-GAAP revenues from North America surged 78.8% to $608.67 million in Q1 FY17 compared to revenue of $340.43 million in Q1 FY16. For Europe, the company generated non-GAAP revenues of $150.42 million, up 2.4% versus $146.94 million in the year-ago quarter. Global payment's Asia/Pacific region recorded non-GAAP sales of $58.16 million, higher by 17.3% compared to $49.58 million in Q1 FY16.

Operating Metrics

During Q1 FY17, Global Payments adjusted operating income surged 47.2% to $240.7 million, from $163.6 million in Q1 FY16. Adjusted operating margin was 29.5% and on a constant currency basis it came in at 29.9%, consistent with the company's expectations for the reported quarter.

Cash Matters & Balance Sheet

As of August 31, 2016, Global Payments had cash and cash equivalents of $977.8 million and cash from operating activities was $155.7 million. Long-term debt at the end of Q1 FY17 was $4.29 billion. Capital expenditures totaled $38 million for the quarter. Additionally, the company reduced outstanding debt during Q1 FY17 by $44 million. The company stated that since the date of its last earnings it has repurchased an additional 379,000 shares for $28 million. Global Payments' current share repurchase authorization capacity is $191 billion. The company noted that the integration of Heartland is tracking ahead of schedule and it now projects to realize over $60 million of expense synergies in FY17 as compared to the prior estimate of over $50 million.

Global Payments also announced that its Board of Directors approved a quarterly dividend of $0.01 per share payable November 25, 2016, to shareholders of record as of November 11, 2016.

Outlook

For FY17, Global Payments is forecasting earnings in the range of $3.45 per share to $3.55 per share, up from its previous guidance for $3.40 per share to $3.50 a share. The company expects adjusted revenues to be in the range $3.2 billion to $3.3 billion.

Stock Performance

Global Payments' share price finished yesterday's trading session at $79.04, advancing 3.40%. A total volume of 2.97 million shares exchanged hands, which was higher than the 3 months average volume of 1.23 million shares. The stock has advanced 10.10% and 10.21% in the last three months and past six months, respectively. Furthermore, since the start of the year, shares of the company have surged 22.58%. The stock is trading at a PE ratio of 38.39 and has a dividend yield of 0.05%.

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