MasterCard Adds US$25,000 to Train Women Entrepreneurs in Rural Myanmar

MasterCard & Mercy Corps Program Sees an Average 218% Increase in Participant Knowledge of Key Business and Financial Concepts.

Singapore, 5 November, 2013 - Women entrepreneurs will benefit from new funding to support business literacy initiatives in rural Myanmar, MasterCard announced today.

The additional US$25,000 in funding from MasterCard will go towards the expansion of the business literacy program with Mercy Corps called Business and Financial Literacy for Success. The program educates small farmers and households on basic business skills and money management practices. The grant will allow Mercy Corps to provide the second phase of training, which will include in-depth and targeted business advisory services, mentoring and links to financing to help 500 women entrepreneurs in the delta region start or expand their businesses. Read more.

MasterCard: Beats Analyst Estimates, Priceless

It has been a blowout year for card companies, which have seen earnings rise supported by growth in consumer spending in the US and abroad. MasterCard Inc. (MA) is no exception: The world’s second-largest card payment processing company beat analysts’ estimates for its third quarter (3QFY13) earnings and revenues by a fair margin.

For the quarter ending September 30, 2013, MasterCard’s net income grew to $879 million, with earnings (diluted) up 18% from the same quarter last year to $7.27 per share. The result beat analysts’ mean estimates by a healthy 4.5%.

The company’s net revenues for the quarter came in at $2.218 billion, up 16% from 3QFY12, driven mainly by increased payment volumes and transactions on the MasterCard, Maestro and Cirrus networks (all three are operated by MasterCard). Reported revenues were 4% better than consensus estimates of $2.133 billion. Operating income for the quarter was also 17% higher at $1.24 billion, with operating margins touching 56%. Read more.