Mastercard sees slower annual revenue growth through 2027

MASTERCARD Inc projected slower annual net revenue growth for the 2025 to 2027 period as the firm strives for a larger slice of the digital payments market.

The global payments network expects net revenue to grow annually by a percentage in the “high-end of low-double-digits” in that time frame, it said in a presentation during its investor day on Wednesday. The projection compares to the high-teens percentage rate it had predicted for 2022 to 2024.

The earlier revenue forecast — given at its last investor day in 2021 — had accounted for an expected economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, CFO Sachin Mehra said Wednesday.

Mastercard also reiterated its goal to shift more consumers away from cash and checks and toward digital payments, and to capitalise on opportunities in the global remittances sector. The firm further committed to expanding its services businesses — which encompass customer anti-fraud solutions — to augment Mastercard’s payment offerings. That targeted addressable market in services is worth US$490 billion (RM2.2 trillion), according to its presentation.

Shares in the company were down by about 1.1% at 12:57pm in New York trading.

Mastercard also said it expects an annual operating margin percentage at a minimum of 55% for the 2025 to 2027 period, compared to a minimum 50% target for 2022 to 2024. For earnings per share, it forecasted a compound annual growth rate in the mid-teens for the coming years. It had predicted the metric would land in the “low-twenties” for the 2022 to 2024 period.

Last month, Mastercard reported third-quarter (3Q) profit that beat analysts’ estimates, helped by a boost in cross-border transactions as consumers kept spending. At that time, the company forecasted net revenue would climb by a percentage in the low teens in the 4Q.

China also offers a growth opportunity for Mastercard. The firm, through a joint venture with NetsUnion Clearing Corp, is now processing domestic payments in the country, positioning Mastercard “to be the world’s most accepted payment network,” Ling Hai, the firm’s president for Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa, said on Wednesday. Its payment network rival Visa Inc doesn’t have such licensing in China. – Bloomberg