Visa authorizes $1.5 billion buyback, profit rises 89 percent

Visa Inc's fourth-quarter profit rose 89 percent and the world's largest credit and debit-card network authorized a new $1.5 billion share repurchase program and raised its dividend by 50 percent.

Profit rose to $1.7 billion, or $2.47 per Class A share, from $880 million, or $1.28 per Class A share, a year earlier.

Income was boosted by $627 million on the reversal of previously recorded tax reserves, Visa said.

Total net operating revenue rose 15 percent to $2.7 billion, while payment volumes grew 6 percent to $1 trillion.

(Reporting by Jochelle Mendonca in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)