Heartland Payment Systems 1Q earnings rise 27 percent

PRINCETON, N.J.—Heartland Payment Systems Inc., a provider of card processing, payroll, check management and payment services, said Thursday first-quarter earnings rose 27 percent as card processing volume increased.

Net income for the quarter rose to $8.7 million, or 23 cents per share, from $6.9 million, or 17 cents per share, during the same period last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, forecast earnings of 21 cents per share for the quarter on revenue of $333 million.

Total revenue increased 19 percent to $339.6 million during the first quarter, from $284.2 million during the year-ago period.

Heartland Payment Systems revenue was boosted by card processing volume. During the first three months of the year, processing volume rose 18 percent. Heartland Processing Systems handled $13.2 billion in transaction volume, compared with $11.2 billion during the same quarter in 2007 -- an 18.3 percent increase.