Visa Cuts 2Q Revenue Projection Citing Coronavirus Disruption

   By Maria Armental 
 

Visa Inc. on Monday cut its revenue projection for the current quarter, blaming a sharp slowdown in travel spending due to the coronavirus epidemic.

The San Francisco-based company, the largest U.S. card network, said cross-border growth rates had deteriorated week by week since the coronavirus outbreak in China was reported and said its data, through Feb. 28, didn't fully reflect the impact of the epidemic spreading outside of Asia.

"As such, we anticipate that this deteriorating trend has not bottomed out yet," the company warned.

Cross-border online spending unrelated to travel hasn't been significantly affected, except in some Asian markets, the company said.

Cross-border spending typically carries larger fees.

On Monday, Visa said that based on what it's seen thus far, it expects the business disruption to lower revenue by about 2.5 percentage points to 3.5 percentage points. In January, it had projected net revenue to increase by a low double-digit percentage this quarter, "modestly better" than the first quarter.

Visa plans to update its view beyond the quarter at its second-quarter earnings call in April.

Shares of Visa dipped 1.2% to $190 in after-hours trading on Monday.

Write to Maria Armental at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 02, 2020 17:38 ET (22:38 GMT)

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