Discover Financial Services’ (DFS - Free Report) fourth-quarter 2017 adjusted earnings of $1.55 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.3%. The bottom line also rose 10.7% year over year driven by strong loan and revenue growth across segments.
Including non-recurring charges and pre-tax expenses, net income per share came at 99 cents in the fourth quarter, down 29% year over year.
For 2017, the company reported net income of $5.42 per share, down 6% from the prior-year quarter.
Operational Update
For the reported quarter, the company’s revenue net of interest expenses increased 11% year over year to $2.6 billion. The top line also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 41%.
For 2017, revenue net of interest expenses increased 9% year over year to $9.9 billion.
Consumer deposits grew 9% from the year-ago quarter to $84.2 billion.
Interest expenses of $436 million jumped 19% year over year.
Total other expenses increased 15% to $1 billion due to higher employee compensation and benefits, marketing and business Development expenses and professional fees.
Segment Update
Direct Banking Segment
This segment’s pre-tax income rose 0.2% to $870 million. This was because higher revenues were partially offset by increased provision for loan losses and operating expenses.
Total loans increased 9% year over year to $84.2 billion.
Credit card loans rose 9% to $67.3 billion.
Personal loans increased 14%, private student loans increased 2% and jumped 11% excluding purchased student loans, all on a year-over-year basis.
Net interest income increased 12% to $2.1 billion from the prior year, driven by loan growth and a higher net interest margin. Net interest margin was 10.28%, up 21 basis points from the prior-year quarter.
Total other income rose 6% to $494 million from the prior-year quarter, driven by higher discount and interchange revenues.
Provision for loan losses of $678 million increased 17% year over year due to higher net charge-offs, partially offset by a smaller reserve build.
Payment Services Segment
Payment Services pretax income was $29 million in the quarter, up 93% from $15 million in the year-ago quarter. The rise was primarily driven by higher transaction processing revenues and interchange revenues as well as lower operating expenses.
Payment Services transaction dollar volume was $54 billion, up 17% from the prior-year-quarter.
PULSE transaction dollar volume went up 19% year over year.
Diners Club International volume rose 14% from the last-year quarter, driven by continued strength of newer franchise relationships.
Network Partners volume increased 1.4%.
Discover Financial Services Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Discover Financial Services Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Discover Financial Services Quote
Financial Position
Discover Financial had total assets worth $100.1 billion as of Dec 31, 2017, up 8.4% year over year.
Total liabilities as of Dec 31, 2017 were $89.2 billion, up 10% year over year.
Total equity was $10.9 billion on Dec 31, 2017, down 3.8% year over year.
Discover Financial’s return on equity for the fourth quarter was 14%.
Share Repurchase Update
During the fourth quarter, the company repurchased approximately 8.1 million shares of common stock for $555 million.
Shares of common stock outstanding declined 2.2% from the prior quarter.
Zacks Rank and Performance of Other Peers
Discover Financial sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Among other players in the Finance sector that have reported their fourth-quarter earnings so far, American Express Company (AXP - Free Report) , Total System Services, Inc. (TSS - Free Report) and Navient Corporation (NAVI - Free Report) beat their respective Zacks Consensus Estimate.
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