Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2023.
Net revenue for the fourth quarter of 2023 was $6.5 billion, up 13%, or 11% on a currency-neutral basis. The increase was attributed to the growth of Mastercard’s payment network and value-added services and solutions.
Payments network net revenue increased 9%, or 7% on a currency neutral basis. The main drivers of the increase were:
- Gross dollar volume up 10%, in local currency, to $2.4 trillion.
- Cross-border volume growth of 18% in local currency.
- Increased switching transactions by 12%.
Total operating expenses increased by 21% over the previous year. Excluding the impact of Fourth Quarter Special Items, adjusted operating expenses increased 10%, or 9% on a currency neutral basis, primarily due to higher personnel costs.
The effective tax rate for the fourth quarter of 2023 was 16.0%, compared to 18.3% for the corresponding period in 2022.
Fourth quarter net income was $2.8 billion and diluted earnings per share (EPS) were $2.97.
By December 31, 2023, the company’s customers had issued 3.3 billion Mastercard and Maestro cards.
