Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Cameron Bready: Yes, Bryan, it’s Cameron. I’ll just start at a macro level, and I’ll let Josh maybe jump in if he has any additional color to add. I would say, we got to look at margin profile in Q1 ex-EVO because EVO comes in at a lower margin profile than our core business. So, in Q1, we expanded margins ex-EVO by around 25 basis points. That’s pretty consistent with where we ended up in Q4. As you can imagine, mix probably impacts that more than anything else, that we’ve got mix movement. As the vertical market businesses continue to perform well and recover in some of those verticals relative to what they experienced during the pandemic, that tends to come in at a lower margin profile, which from a mix matter, kind of ways to the overall margin expansion we’re seeing in the business.

But I would say, for Q1, we delivered margin expansion for the merchant business ex-EVO exactly on top of our plans. And I’ll remind you, those margins are at, sort of north of 47%. So, as we think about margin expansion in the business over a longer period of time, when we’re already at margins of 47%, 48% in that business, obviously, as we look at margin expansion for the company overall, more of that will be driven through gaining better scale across our corporate functions and obviously continue to see those expenses as a percentage of revenue not grow at the same pace. And then secondly, obviously, in the issuer business that has a little more runway, I think, around margin expansion over the near to medium-term. So, merchant was exactly what we expected for the quarter.

We still expect the same expectation for the full-year, as Josh articulated in his prepared remarks around merchant margins. As we bring EVO in, it comes in at a lower margin profile. As we continue to build synergies over time, we’ll get back to kind of pre-EVO levels and then, of course, look to expand from there.

Josh Whipple: Yes. The only thing I would add is that as it relates to Q2 and Q3, we’ll see some margin contraction, as Cameron mentioned, by bringing in EVO, which is coming in at a lower profile, and then we’ll start to see some margin expansion in Q4. And then the net result of this will just be a modest decline in merchant margins for the full-year, which is, again, consistent with the guide that we outlined on the February call.

Bryan Keane: Got it. No, that’s really helpful. And then just as a follow-up, just thinking about the trends in issuer. I know you guys raised the Issuer segment revenue growth for the year, but the trends, obviously, you’re pointing in your favor towards the movement towards assets towards larger banks, and I think it was 9 LOIs. So, just thinking even about longer-term, are you guys feeling a little bit more positive about maybe the issuer outlook even beyond 2023 as a result of some of these trends?

Jeff Sloan: Bryan, it’s Jeff. I couldn’t be more positive about where we are in Issuer. I mean I think this is the fourth quarter in a row of significant sequential acceleration in the rate of growth of that business. B2B has been part of it now for probably nine months or something, and that provides another leg of growth. And I think I said last quarter added like 50 basis points or something of incremental growth relative to the Core Issuer business. So yes, I would say not in the nine RFP number or other things that are going on in terms of large financial institutions looking to select either new providers, their first time with providers. I think we’re very well-positioned there. As I said on the call in February that the cloud sells, right?

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