Credit cards in an archival photograph. Photo: Lotus Head, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5. Image resized.
TransUnion reported a 12% increase in third-quarter revenue Tuesday and raised its adjusted earnings outlook, with financial-services and insurance demand helping offset a decline in its consumer-facing business.
The credit-information company’s quarterly revenue reached $1.312 billion. Net income attributable to TransUnion rose to $156 million from $97 million, while diluted earnings per share increased to 81 cents from 49 cents.
Its results give investors a view of spending on information used in lending, insurance, fraud prevention and marketing. They are not a direct measure of how easily households can obtain a loan or how much interest borrowers are paying.
Financial services grows while consumer business shrinks
U.S. Markets revenue increased 7% to $977 million. Within that segment, financial-services revenue rose 11% to $485 million, while emerging verticals increased 6% to $351 million.
Consumer Interactive, the consumer-facing part of the U.S. business, moved in the other direction. Its revenue fell 3% to $140 million. The contrast means the company’s overall growth should not be read as a uniform increase across all its products or customer groups.
Chief Executive Chris Cartwright said financial services and insurance led the U.S. growth. He said the company was balancing business momentum against rising interest rates and market uncertainty in setting its full-year expectations.
Acquisitions explain part of the international jump
International revenue increased 30% to $339 million. That was faster than the segment’s 10% growth on an organic, constant-currency basis, which removes currency movements and the initial contribution of recent acquisitions.
The difference was particularly large in Latin America, where reported revenue rose 193% but organic, constant-currency growth was 18%. The segment now includes Trans Union de Mexico, the company said.
India’s reported revenue increased 8%, while growth excluding currency effects was 18%. These different measures matter when comparing the underlying business with the dollar figures reported to U.S. shareholders.
For TransUnion as a whole, organic, constant-currency revenue growth was 8%, below the headline 12% reported increase.
Profit improves, but adjusted margin narrows
Adjusted earnings per share rose to $1.25 from $1.10. The company uses that measure to exclude certain items from its reported results; it is separate from the 81 cents in earnings per share calculated under generally accepted accounting principles.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased 9% to $465 million. The corresponding margin declined to 35.4% from 36.3%, meaning that measure of earnings grew more slowly than revenue.
Operating cash flow for the first nine months increased to $889 million from $668 million. TransUnion attributed the increase mainly to improved operating performance and changes in working capital.
Higher dividend and larger buyback authorization
The board increased the share-repurchase authorization by $1 billion to $2 billion. TransUnion said it had repurchased $243 million of shares through the first nine months and expected total repurchases of up to $500 million in 2026. An authorization permits purchases but does not mean the entire amount has already been spent.
The quarterly dividend increased to 13.5 cents per share from 12.5 cents. It is payable November 25 to shareholders of record November 10.
For the full year, TransUnion now expects adjusted earnings per share of $4.81 to $4.88. It maintained the high end of its revenue outlook, with a full-year revenue range of $5.131 billion to $5.162 billion.
The company said its forecasts remain subject to changes in interest rates, inflation, regulation and the broader economy. The release also identifies uncertainty around mortgage credit-reporting requirements and the pricing of services as business risks, rather than announcing a new change to borrowers’ bills.
JBizNews Desk | Chicago
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