Western Union Issues Guidance; Increases Dividend, Approves $1.2 Bln Buyback

(RTTNews) - The Western Union Company (WU) announced, for 2017, the company expects GAAP EPS in a range of $1.48 to $1.60 and adjusted EPS in a range of $1.63 to $1.75. The company targets flat to low single digit decrease in GAAP revenues, or a low single digit increase in constant currency.

The company anticipates the macro environment in 2017 will be largely similar to the prior year, with continued challenges from the impact of a strong U.S. dollar, softness in oil producing markets, and geopolitical disruptions.

The Western Union Company also announced that its Board has declared an increased quarterly dividend and approved a new three-year share repurchase authorization. The new quarterly cash dividend of $0.175 per common share, which represents a 9% increase over the previous dividend of $0.16, is payable March 31, 2017 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 17, 2017. The new $1.2 billion share repurchase authorization will expire December 31, 2019, and is in addition to the $231 million remaining under the previous authorization at year-end.

In the fourth quarter, the company delivered revenue of $1.4 billion, reflecting a decline of 1% compared to last year, or an increase of 4% on a constant currency basis. Loss per share of $0.73 includes an $1.18 impact from the previously disclosed charge related to settlements with various U.S. federal and state government agencies and an $0.02 impact from expenses associated with spending on a new business transformation program, referred to as the "WU Way." Excluding the settlement charge and WU Way related expenses, fourth quarter earnings per share was $0.47 increased from $0.42 in the same period last year.