Pro forma revenue increased by 4%, or 5% constant currency including Travelex Global Business Payments (TGBP) in the prior year period.
Operating margin declined to 23.9% against 24.4% during the same quarter in the prior year, mainly due to an increased operating loss in Business Solutions such as TGBP intangibles amortization, and incremental costs related to investments, compliance, and timing of certain expenses.
Western Union president and chief executive officer Hikmet Ersek said overall, the company started off the year in line with its outlook. The firm’s consumer-to-consumer segment growth accelerated compared to the fourth quarter, as strength in North America and the Middle East and Africa offset some expected softness in the Europe and CIS region.
"Strong capital deployment remains a priority. In addition to reinvesting in the business, we returned over $200 million to shareholders through the combination of share repurchase and dividends, and we plan to remain active with capital deployment throughout the year," Ersek said.
For the latest quarter period, the money transfer enterprise’s EBITDA margin excluding TGBP integration expenses stood at 28.9%, against 29.7% excluding restructuring expenses in the prior year period.
The firm’s North American region revenue grew by 5%, while Middle East and Africa (MEA) region revenue increased by 6% during the first quarter of 2012.
For the quarter ended 31 March 2012, the company’s Europe and the CIS region revenue remained flat when compared with the prior year, while Asia Pacific (APAC) region revenue rose by 7%.
As per the financial result of Western Union, its Latin American and the Caribbean (LACA) region revenue increased by 2%.
The company sustained an operating loss of $15m, including $14m of intangibles amortization and $6m of TGBP integration expenses, versus an operating loss of $4m excluding TGBP in the prior year.
