Mastercard sees quarterly profit miss forecasts as coronavirus pandemic hits global travel and related spending

Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) saw its quarterly profit miss analyst estimates on Wednesday as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led to a slowdown in global travel and related spending The NYSE-listed firm said its net income fell by 28% to $1.5 billion, or $1.51 per share, in the third quarter ended September 30, 2020. Excluding one-off items, Mastercard's profit was $1.60 per share, missing Wall Street estimates of $1.66. Mastercard’s total operating expenses fell by 4% to $1.7 billion in the quarter. The group reported a 36% drop in cross-border volume on a local currency basis in the reported quarter. Gross dollar volume, the dollar value of transactions processed, however, rose by 1% to $1.6 trillion. “We are seeing encouraging progress in the trajectory of domestic spending, while travel spending remains a challenge,” Mastercard chief executive officer Ajay Banga said in the quarterly earnings statement. American Express last Friday warned that business travel spending would not pick up before early 2022 after reporting underwhelming third-quarter profit due to weak spending on travel and entertainment by its card users. Mastercard shares were more than 6% lower at $298.01 in early morning trade in New York on Wednesday.