Mastercard tops profit estimates on travel spending boom

:Mastercard Inc sailed past market estimates for quarterly profit on Thursday as a surge in cross-border spending sparked by this year's travel boom more than offset higher costs.

Pent-up demand and the easing of COVID-19 curbs have led to the strongest summer travel season in three years, a boon for card companies that can charge more for overseas transactions.

Mastercard said cross-border volumes jumped 58 per cent on a local currency basis in the April-June quarter, helping drive up gross dollar volumes on its network by 14 per cent to $2.1 trillion.

The surge mirrored similar results at Visa Inc and American Express Co, indicating consumers were still spending on travel and other high-end pursuits in the face of decades-high inflation and the threat of a possible recession.

"Increasing inflationary pressures have yet to significantly impact overall consumer spending but we will continue to monitor this closely," Chief Executive Michael Miebach said in a statement.

Net revenue jumped 21 per cent to $5.49 billion and was higher than estimates of $5.26 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Mastercard earned a profit of $2.56 per share on an adjusted basis, compared with the $2.36 expected by analysts. The company's shares rose 1.7 per cent in premarket trading.

Operating expenses, excluding one-time costs, were up 9 per cent.