Global Payments Inc. announced results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2018.

“We delivered double digit organic growth at the high end of our expectations in the third quarter, highlighting ongoing consistent execution,” said Jeff Sloan, Chief Executive Officer. “Our strategy of technology enablement continued to generate share gains fueled by strong momentum in our integrated and vertical markets and ecommerce and omnichannel businesses, which each again grew double digits in the quarter.”

Sloan concluded, “We also made significant investments to advance our software-driven payments strategy in the healthcare, restaurant and food service vertical markets, which we expect to contribute approximately five percentage points toward our technology-enabled revenue target and position us to further accelerate growth into 2019 and the next decade.”

Third Quarter 2018 Summary

• GAAP revenues were $857.7 million, compared to $1,038.9 million in the third quarter of 2017; diluted earnings per share were $1.11 compared to $0.71 in the prior year; and operating margin was 26.0% compared to 16.6% in the third quarter of 2017; 2018 results reflect the adoption of Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers.

• Adjusted net revenue plus network fees grew 12% to $1,025.0 million, compared to $914.0 million in the third quarter of 2017.

• Adjusted earnings per share grew 25% to $1.44, compared to $1.15 in the third quarter of 2017.

• Adjusted operating margin expanded 120 basis points to 33%.

2018 Outlook

“We are delighted with our performance in the third quarter and year-to-date period, which positions us well to exceed our expectations for the year, despite facing incremental pressure from foreign currency exchange rates,” stated Cameron Bready, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “We now expect adjusted net revenue plus network fees to range from $3.96 billion to $3.98 billion, or growth of 15% over 2017, and adjusted earnings per share to be in a range of $5.12 to $5.22, reflecting growth of 28% to 30% over 2017. We continue to expect adjusted operating margin to expand by as much as 120 basis points."

Capital Allocation

Global Payments’ Board of Directors approved a dividend of $0.01 per share payable December 28, 2018 to shareholders of record as of December 14, 2018.