Green Dot’s Prepaid Growth Boosts Earnings

Green Dot reported earnings of $0.78 per share, beating the average analyst estimate of $0.70 a share. In addition, the firm stated that it showed $228 million on the top line, better than the $213 million that consensus held for the metric.

The guidance for the full year’s earnings, as noted before the conference call with analysts, comes in at $1.39 to $1.44 a share, which compares to the $1.38 estimates headed into the call.

The company said that gross dollar volume in the quarter was $6.6 billion, up from $6.4 billion a year ago, and that purchase volume was slightly higher in the same timeframe, with $4.7 billion logged versus $4.6 billion last year.

Among the key drivers, said Steve Streit, the firm’s chairman and chief executive officer, was the fact that organic and acquired lines of business showed growth. The prepaid card line showed its first positive momentum, with the first boost in sequential quarterly growth in a year. In the meantime, even though there had been 12 percent fewer cards active in the timeframe due to the end of MoneyPak as of Feb. 2015, the company still saw a buffer against negative impact here, as the services segment was down only 1.9 percent in the period as measured year over year.

Partnerships have been renewed, said management, between Green Dot and 7-Eleven, as well as CVS, and 250 more financial service center locations have also been added. The firm, said Streit, also has been returning capital to shareholders, with $50 million repurchased in the most recent period. The six-year program that calls for Green Dot to garner at least $1.75 in adjusted earnings per share next year is still on track, according to the latest earnings announcement.