Dallas, Texas 05/07/2014 (FINANCIALSTRENDS) – The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) which is the globe’s premier payment services and money transfer services provider reported its 1Q14 earnings on 1st May after markets closed. The stand out numbers from the earnings call was the 4 percent dip in profits, while its revenue generated in the quarter went up for the first time in the past one year. The dip in income has been linked to the continued pressure on its market share from emerging competition and 5 percent increase in expenses in comparison to $1.08 billion. Net income came in at $203 million, which translated to $0.37 cents per share for the reporting quarter as against the $212 million it had reported in 1Q13.
On the back of company executives reiterating their growth estimates for the full year, trading house Sterne Agee in its research note post the earnings call has forecasted a price target of $20 for the shares of the company and has opined that the firm would be able to register double digit growth in its quarterly earnings post 2015, if the business momentum it has generated recently could be maintained.
In his comments, post the earnings call, The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Chief Executive Officer, President, Member of Compliance Committee and Director Hikmet Ersek has been quoted to have explained the underlying positive contributors to the turnaround in the business by stating that, “We are pleased with how we started the year. Our core money transfer business continued to rebound and key growth areas such as westernunion.com online money transfer and Western Union Business Solutions delivered strong performance. We also continue to generate and deploy strong cash flow for our shareholders. This improvement trend reflects benefits from the previously implemented consumer money transfer pricing actions.”
