Cielo Profit Beats Estimates as Card Transactions Climb

Cielo SA (CIEL3), Brazil’s biggest payments processor, posted a third-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates as credit- and debit-card volume increased.

Net income advanced 29 percent to 588.9 million reais ($290.5 million) from 457.6 million reais a year earlier, the Barueri, Brazil-based company said today in a regulatory filing. Profit excluding some items was 590.7 million reais, exceeding the average estimate of 584 million reais by 12 analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Credit- and debit-card volume climbed 20 percent to 95.7 billion reais from a year earlier, Cielo said in the statement. Operating expenses were 194.5 million reais, a 22 percent increase from a year earlier.

Cielo fell 4.8 percent to 44.85 reais today, adding to yesterday’s 4.9 percent drop, after O Estado de S. Paulo reported that Brazil President Dilma Rousseff is seeking to reduce card-transaction fees. Redecard SA, the nation’s second- biggest bank-card processor, stopped trading in Sao Paulo on Oct. 17 after it was acquired by Itau Unibanco Holding SA. (ITUB4)

To contact the reporter on this story: Francisco Marcelino in Sao Paulo at mdeoliveira@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scheer at dscheer@bloomberg.net