First Data Corp (NYSE: FDC) stock surged over 17.8% on April 30th, 2018 on solid first quarter of 2018 and a better forecasts. They even raised 2018 forecasts with constant currency revenue growth estimated at 6% to 7% as compared to their previous rise of 5% to 7% while this range includes about 2 percentage points of net growth attributable to the full year impact of earlier announced acquisitions and dispositions. They even upped constant currency EBITDA growth of 8% to 10% against earlier forecast of 7% to 9%. Diluted adjusted EPS is expected to be in the range of $1.42 to $1.47 from their earlier guidance of $1.35 to $1.40.
For the first quarter of 2018, the segment revenue rose 5% on an organic constant currency basis. Segment EBITDA surged 10% on an organic constant currency basis while their EBITDA margin expanded 110 basis points. They are currently processing nearly $58 billion of annualized volume globally on Clover, which is a rise of more than 50% year-over-year. Adjusted net income per diluted share rose 6% yoy to $0.29 boosted by a better operating performance which partly offset by the application of a normalized tax rate in the current period. Total segment EBITDA rose 10% yoy to $730 million on an organic constant currency basis while segment EBITDA margin rose 110 basis points to 35.1%. The group had another strong cash flow quarter generating $368 million of free cash flow.
The group’s enterprise backlog also surged >50% to more than $300 million as compared to the second quarter of 2017. Free cash flow was rising >100 million year-over-year to 368 million during the quarter. The group continues to focus on Debt reduction remains and on track to achieve their target of approaching a leverage ratio of 4 times by the end of next year. Their GBS segment witnessed a solid 7% growth while the group is growing merchants globally. GBS North America rose 4% in the quarter and this trend is expected to be ongoing.GBS regions outside of North America surged 18% on an organic constant currency basis