Mastercard's decision to withdraw from Russia crimps revenue in Q1 by $30M

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) - Mastercard said Thursday that its decision to suspend its operations in Russia caused a revenue loss in the first quarter of $30 million.

"Russia’s invasion of Ukraine marked a somber start to 2022 as war returned to Europe for the first time in decades,” said CEO Michael Miebach in a written statement.

The company published its first quarter 2022 financial results which showed that net revenue soared 24% on year to $5.2 billion and net income for the quarter rose 44% to $2.6 billion, or $2.68 a share.

"As of March, cross-border travel is above 2019 levels for the first time since the pandemic began and ahead of our expectations," said Miebach.

"We’re seeing strong traction in consumer and small business payments, Mastercard installments and our work across the digital asset space," he added.

The company said spending on its cards jumped in the first quarter among consumers as COVID-19 measures eased and people in turn were back on the streets and spent money.

Overall spending on the company’s cards jumped 22% to $1.52 trillion.

"Even in the context of this challenging geopolitical environment, we’re off to a strong start in 2022 with robust revenue and earnings growth as cross-border volumes grew 53% versus a year ago on a local currency basis," Miebach underlined.