Visa Inc, the world's largest credit and debit processor, said its second fiscal quarter profit grew 28 percent in its first quarter as a public company as payments and transactions grew across all regions worldwide.

The San Francisco-based firm reported that it earned $314 million in its second fiscal quarter, or 39 cents per class A common share, compared with 246 million a year ago.

The company's operating revenue rose 22 percent to $1.45 billion, compared to $1.19 billion a year earlier.

Visa said it received strong contributions from service fees, data processing fees, and international transactions fees.

We are very pleased with our financial results for our first quarter as a public company, said Joseph Saunders, Visa's chairman and chief executive officer.

Despite a challenging economic environment, Visa recorded strong growth in payments volume and transactions globally and across our diverse suite of products -- a trend which is continuing into the fiscal third quarter, he added.

Shares of Visa fell 6.52 percent in after hours trading, down $4.93 to $70.70. At the end or regular trading hours, the stock had finished up 53 cents to $75.63.

Visa raised $17.9 billion when it went public on March 18, the largest U.S. initial public offering.

The firm said $3 billion from the IPO was set aside for future U.S. litigation expenses. Earlier this year it paid $945 million to American Express to settle a suit which claimed Visa had allegedly prevented banks from offering other credit cards.

OPERATING REVENUE & EXPENSES

Service fees in the second quarter were $792 million, up 29 percent. Data processing fees were $494 million, up 34 percent. International transaction fees were $379 million, up 35 percent. A Visa Europe licensing fee earned $126 million.

Payments to cardholders based on volume of purchases and incentives reduced net revenue by $338 million.

Total operating expenses were $1.1 billion, up 39 percent from the previous year.

OUTLOOK

The company said it expects annual growth of 11 percent to 15 percent in the next three years, an adjusted operating margin in the low 40 percent rage, class A common earnings per share growth of 20 percent or more, and annual free cash flow of more than $1 billion.

The outlook reflects a 41 percent tax rate according to GAAP standards in fiscal 2008. The company expects to reduce that to between 35 percent and 36 percent in the next five years.