Sale Boosts First Data

Updated from 9:42 a.m. EDT

First Data Corp.(FDC Quote) Thursday reported higher first-quarter results, though much of the gain was credited to the sale of its ATM unit.

The company posted net income of $483.5 million, or 61 cents a share, including discontinued operations, for the three-month period ended March 31, up from $292.6 million, or 39 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $2.26 billion, from $1.97 billion in the year-ago period.

Analysts' consensus estimate was for 44 cents a share, according to Thomson First Call.

The $436 million sale of Global Cash Access, the nation's largest network of ATMs in casinos, accounted for a gain of 21 cents a share.

The Denver-based credit card transaction-processing company, and parent of Western Union, also reported a non-cash 2 cents-a-share restructuring charge related to accounting problems found at its TeleCheck business in 2002 and 2003. The company is reviewing TeleCheck's "strategic fit," it said in a statement.

First Data shares were recently up 3.7% to $46.45.