Credit card issuers gain, as Mastercard jumps to all-time high

NEW YORK, May 30, 2008 (Thomson Financial via COMTEX) -- MA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Shares of credit card issues traded higher Thursday with Mastercard Inc. soaring to an all-time high after the company said it expects double-digit net revenue growth for 2008.

The stock of Mastercard rallied as much as 10.5% to a record high of $316.96 in intraday, before paring gains slightly.

The stock last traded up 8.3% at $310.77 on volume of 7.4 million shares, compared with the full-day average over the past 30 days of 2.7 million shares. The stock has now surged about 45% since the beginning of the year.

The Purchase, N.Y.-based company said it continues to see gross dollar volume growth rate slowing in the U.S. in the second quarter, but growing in the rest of the world, according to slides from the company's investor meeting Thursday.

In the long-term, Mastercard said it expects average annual net income growth of 20% to 30% and net revenue growth of 12% to 15%, according to the slides.

Cowen & Co. analyst Moshe Katri has an outperform rating on the stock, and said that the company's increased long-term financial goals reflect that results continue to benefit from a strong secular shift in payment forms from the traditional cash and checks to cards.

Elsewhere in the group, shares of Visa Inc., gained nearly 5% to $85.92 and American Express Co., a Dow industrials component, rose 1.2% to $46.67.

Capital One Financial Corp. added 20 cents to $48.72.

Wanfeng Zhou wz/wz/tk1

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