Vantiv strategy paying big dividends

In the rapidly changing landscape for payments, market leader Vantiv is changing more rapidly than most as evidenced by dramatic growth in its transaction volume, revenues and profits.

Each of those measures surged during the company’s third quarter ended September 30. Thanks in large part to acquisitions, transaction volume in the merchant service group increased 31% which caused net revenue to increase 42% to $297.7 million. The company’s total revenue increased 31% to $697.1 million while adjusted net income increased 21% to $96.9 million, or 49 cents a share.

"This was a strong quarter," said Charles Drucker, Vantiv’s president and CEO. “We are assembling strategic assets and technology capabilities to expand into high growth areas of the market, and our performance this quarter shows that our strategy is working. The payments industry is changing rapidly, and we have positioned Vantiv as a leader in the future of payments."

The momentum is expected to continue in the company’s fourth quarter. Based on the current level of transaction trends and new business activity, Vantiv said its net revenue for the fourth quarter is likely to increase 28% to 30% to $394 million to $400 million. Profits on an adjusted basis are expected to grow more slowly, somewhere in the 11% to 18% range, equating to earnings per share of 50 cents to 53 cents.