ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) today announced results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2020.

“We are pleased to have ended 2020 with continued sequential improvement in the fourth quarter, highlighting the consistency of our execution since the beginning of the pandemic," said Jeff Sloan, Chief Executive Officer. "We also continue to make significant progress delivering against our strategic objectives, culminating in the announcement today of our new partnership with Google to substantially expand the opportunity set for our merchant solutions business. None of this would have been possible without the dedication of our exceptional team members during this challenging period, and we thank them for their commitment to our customers and communities.

“Our new collaboration with Google advances our merchant business competitively by driving incremental revenue and lowering operating costs through a multi-year worldwide go-to-market distribution and product development relationship combined with utilization of cutting edge, transformative cloud native technologies. Together we will bring new best-in-class digital products to market worldwide more quickly, and we will further accelerate our culture of market-leading innovation.

“Our company accomplished a great deal over the last twelve months,” Sloan continued. “Across our merchant and issuer segments, we have struck significant and unique distribution relationships with two of the world’s largest and most sophisticated technology companies with a combined market capitalization of nearly $3 trillion. Together, we will leapfrog legacy means of distribution and redefine how payment technologies for merchants and issuers are sold and consumed in the digital age.

“In addition, our Netspend business has played a critical role in the disbursement of more than $2.5 billion in stimulus funds to those most in need domestically, in many cases days in advance of traditional and financial technology competitors because of the depth and breadth of our network. We also expanded our target addressable market in 2020 by entering continental Europe and leveraging our multinational footprint.”

Sloan concluded, “These accomplishments would have been meaningful in any year but are especially so given the challenges presented by COVID-19. We expect these milestones to deepen our competitive moat and extend ongoing share gains. We exited 2020 in a better position than we entered it.”

Fourth Quarter 2020 Summary

• GAAP revenues were $1.93 billion, compared to $1.99 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019; diluted earnings per share were $0.61 compared to $0.34 in the prior year; and operating margin was 13.1%.
• Adjusted net revenues declined 2.9% to $1.75 billion, compared to $1.80 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019.
• Adjusted earnings per share increased 11.1% to $1.80, compared to $1.62 in the fourth quarter of 2019.
• Adjusted operating margin of 41.5% expanded 320 basis points.

Full Year 2020 Summary

• GAAP revenues were $7.42 billion, compared to $4.91 billion in 2019; diluted earnings per share were $1.95 compared to $2.16 in the prior year; and operating margin was 12.0%.
• Adjusted net revenues declined 5.2% to $6.75 billion, compared to $7.12 billion in 2019 on a combined basis.
• Adjusted earnings per share increased 2.9% to $6.40, compared to $6.22 in 2019.
• Adjusted operating margin of 39.7% expanded 210 basis points on a combined basis.

Financial Highlights and 2021 Outlook

“Our performance in the fourth quarter and for the full year 2020 exceeded our expectations post COVID-19 and highlights our outstanding execution and the resiliency of our business model,” said Paul Todd, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “Our technology-enabled payments strategy coupled with the decisive expense actions taken at the onset of the pandemic allowed us to generate substantial adjusted operating margin expansion, adjusted earnings per share growth and strong free cash flow despite the impact of the pandemic on the worldwide economy.

“Given significant progress with our integration activities, we are again raising our expectations for both revenue and expense synergies within three years from the close of the TSYS merger. Specifically, we now expect annual run rate revenue synergies to amount to at least $150 million by September 2022, an increase from our prior estimate of $125 million; and we expect annual run rate expense synergies to amount to at least $400 million by September 2022, an increase from our prior estimate of $375 million.

“Based on our outlook for 2021, we are excited to return to growth across our segments this year. We currently expect full year 2021 adjusted net revenue to be in a range of $7.50 billion to $7.60 billion, representing growth of 11% to 13%. Consistent with the target we provided on our third quarter call, we expect adjusted earnings per share to be in a range of $7.75 to $8.05, reflecting growth of 21% to 26% over 2020 despite the adverse impact of additional lock-downs and social distancing protocols in a number of our markets since late October. This outlook presumes we continue on a path toward recovery worldwide over the course of the year.”

Todd concluded, “We have also returned to our traditional capital allocation priorities, and our Board of Directors has approved an increase to our share repurchase authorization to $1.5 billion. As part of that program, we intend to execute an accelerated share repurchase program for $500 million in the coming days.”

Capital Allocation

Global Payments’ Board of Directors approved a dividend of $0.195 per share payable March 26, 2021 to shareholders of record as of March 12, 2021 and also approved an increase to the existing authorization for the company's share repurchase program, raising the total available authorization to $1.5 billion.

About Global Payments

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) is a leading pure play payments technology company delivering innovative software and services to our customers globally. Our technologies, services and employee expertise enable us to provide a broad range of solutions that allow our customers to operate their businesses more efficiently across a variety of channels around the world.

Headquartered in Georgia with nearly 24,000 employees worldwide, Global Payments is a member of the S&P 500 with worldwide reach spanning over 100 countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. For more information, visit www.globalpaymentsinc.com and follow Global Payments on Twitter (@globalpayinc), LinkedIn and Facebook.