Western Union (WU) Q4 FY2021 earnings: revenue $1.3 billion, up 1.0% on the year

Western Union Co. (WU) reported revenue of $1.3 billion for Q4 FY2021, the quarter ended 31 December 2021, up 1.0% on the same quarter a year earlier. Net income was $169 million, down 4.7% on the year, and diluted earnings per share $0.42. The figures are the company's own, from the 10-K it filed with the SEC on 24 February 2022.

Revenue

$1.3 billion

+1.0% on the year · -0.1% on the quarter

Q1 FY2020Q4 FY2021

Operating margin

24.7%

17.9% a year earlier

Q1 FY2020Q4 FY2021

Net income

$169 million

-4.7% on the year · -27.5% on the quarter

Q1 FY2020Q4 FY2021

Diluted EPS

$0.42

-2.3% on the year · -26.3% on the quarter

Q1 FY2020Q4 FY2021

this quarterthe same quarter a year earlierHover a bar for its figure.

Income statement (profit and loss)

$ million	Q4 FY2021	Q3 FY2021	Q4 FY2020	On the quarter	On the year
Revenue	1,285	1,286	1,272	-0.1%	+1.0%
Cost of revenue	715	n/a	n/a
Gross profit	570	n/a	n/a
Gross margin	44.3%	n/a	n/a
Selling, general and administrative	253	n/a	n/a
Operating income	317	319	227	-0.6%	+39.5%
Operating margin	24.7%	24.8%	17.9%
Interest expense	25.8	n/a	n/a
Pre-tax income	181	n/a	n/a
Income tax	12.1	n/a	n/a
Effective tax rate	6.7%	n/a	n/a
Net income	169	233	177	-27.5%	-4.7%
Net margin	13.1%	n/a	n/a
Diluted EPS	$0.42	$0.57	$0.43	-26.3%	-2.3%

$ million except per share.

Fourth quarters are the year less the first three quarters. Free cash flow is operating cash flow less capital expenditure; the effective tax rate is income tax over pre-tax income; margins are the line over revenue. Gross profit is revenue less cost of revenue, and operating income is revenue less the company's own total costs, where the statement does not print those lines. Those four are arithmetic on the filed numbers; everything else is as filed. Money is in $ million as the company files it, or in $ billion by the switch above the tables; per share figures and share counts are as they are.

Cash flow

$ million	Q4 FY2021	Q3 FY2021	Q4 FY2020	On the quarter	On the year
Operating cash flow	359	n/a	n/a
Capital expenditure	11.3	n/a	n/a
Free cash flow	348	n/a	n/a
Free cash flow margin	27.1%	n/a	n/a
Cash from investing	525	n/a	n/a
Cash from financing	-524	n/a	n/a
Depreciation and amortisation	47.9	51.3	56.1	-6.6%	-14.6%
Share-based compensation	13.1	n/a	n/a
Buybacks	174	n/a	n/a
Dividends paid	92.9	n/a	n/a
Dividend per share	$0.23	n/a	n/a
Diluted shares, weighted	409m	408m	415m	+0.2%	-1.5%
Shares outstanding at period end	394m	404m	411m	-2.4%	-4.2%

Cash flow lines for the quarter; where the company files them year to date, the quarter is the difference between two filings.

Balance sheet

$ million	Q4 FY2021	Q3 FY2021	Q4 FY2020	On the quarter	On the year
Shareholders' equity	356	369	187	-3.5%	+90.6%
Debt	3,008	2,853	3,067	+5.5%	-1.9%
Other liabilities	5,460	n/a	n/a
Total liabilities and equity	8,824	n/a	n/a
Fixed assets	129	n/a	n/a
Goodwill	2,035	n/a	n/a
Intangible assets	417	n/a	n/a
Securities held for sale or to maturity	1,399	n/a	n/a
Loans	1,175	n/a	n/a
Cash and equivalents	1,208	1,003	1,428	+20.4%	-15.4%
Other assets	2,460	n/a	n/a
Total assets	8,824	n/a	n/a

Questions

What was Western Union's revenue in Q4 FY2021?

Western Union (WU) reported revenue of $1.3 billion for Q4 FY2021, the quarter ended 31 December 2021, up 1.0% on the same quarter a year earlier.

How much did Western Union earn in Q4 FY2021?

Net income for Q4 FY2021 was $169 million, down 4.7% on the year, and diluted earnings per share $0.42.

When did Western Union report Q4 FY2021 results?

Western Union filed its 10-K for the year that ended with the quarter on 24 February 2022; the fourth quarter is the year less the first three.

Quarterly results, the last 20 quarters

	Q4 FY2021 *	Q1 FY2022	Q2 FY2022	Q3 FY2022	Q4 FY2022 *	Q1 FY2023	Q2 FY2023	Q3 FY2023	Q4 FY2023 *	Q1 FY2024	Q2 FY2024	Q3 FY2024	Q4 FY2024 *	Q1 FY2025	Q2 FY2025	Q3 FY2025	Q4 FY2025 *	Q1 FY2026	Q2 FY2026	Q3 FY2026
Revenue	1,285	1,156	1,138	1,090	1,092	1,037	1,170	1,098	1,052	1,049	1,066	1,036	1,058	984	1,026	1,033	1,008	983	1,013	1,009
Cost of revenue	715	655	653	637	681	630	699	687	656	641	664	654	662	619	643	643	645	655	677	666
Gross profit	570	501	485	452	411	407	471	411	396	408	402	382	396	364	383	389	363	328	336	343
Gross margin	44%	43%	43%	42%	38%	39%	40%	37%	38%	39%	38%	37%	37%	37%	37%	38%	36%	33%	33%	34%
SG&A	253	263	221	220	259	203	228	200	237	216	212	218	218	187	191	188	178	205	204	212
Operating income	317	238	264	232	152	205	243	211	159	192	191	165	178	177	193	202	185	123	132	131
Operating margin	25%	21%	23%	21%	14%	20%	21%	19%	15%	18%	18%	16%	17%	18%	19%	20%	18%	13%	13%	13%
Interest expense	25.8	24.8	24.8	25.2	26.2	25.0	27.0	27.0	26.3	26.1	31.1	32.2	30.4	32.6	36.7	37.0	36.7	36.2	39.5	38.4
Pre-tax income	181	362	236	194	216	181	216	204	144	170	165	136	148	147	160	168	151	90.1	95.4	96.1
Tax rate	7%	19%	18%	10%	-15%	16%	19%	16%	12%	16%	15%	-95%	-161%	16%	24%	17%	24%	28%	20%	19%
Net income	169	293	194	174	249	152	176	171	127	143	141	265	386	124	122	140	114	64.7	76.7	78.0
Net margin	13%	25%	17%	16%	23%	15%	15%	16%	12%	14%	13%	26%	36%	13%	12%	14%	11%	7%	8%	8%
Diluted EPS	$0.42	$0.74	$0.50	$0.45	$0.65	$0.40	$0.47	$0.46	$0.35	$0.41	$0.41	$0.78	$1.13	$0.36	$0.37	$0.43	$0.36	$0.20	$0.24	$0.25
Operating cash flow	359	200	107	216	59.2	137	127	255	264	94.0	-33.8	212	134	148	-0.3	260	135	109	105	107
Capital expenditure	11.3	10.3	5.0	5.8	10.8	6.8	4.4	5.0	6.7	11.0	5.1	7.0	14.3	3.4	7.5	7.7	19.9	6.4	10.3	7.4
Free cash flow	348	190	102	210	48.4	130	122	250	258	83.0	-38.9	205	120	145	-7.8	253	116	103	94.6	99.9
Buybacks	174	154	31.1	7.6	177	5.1	0.9	91.1	211	151	30.2	1.7	3.7	76.7	79.5	52.3	26.1	52.9	11.1	1.7
Dividends paid	92.9	91.8	93.0	90.7	88.7	88.1	90.6	87.3	83.0	80.5	81.8	79.6	79.6	82.3	76.8	75.5	74.4	79.4	73.4	73.7
Shares outstanding	394m	387m	386m	386m	374m	374m	374m	367m	350m	340m	338m	338m	338m	332m	324m	318m	316m	313m	312m	312m
Filing	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q

Each quarter as filed, linked to its filing.

* The fourth quarter is the full year less the first three quarters, because the company files the year and not the quarter on its own. A fourth quarter's EPS, and its diluted share count where shown, are from the company's results press release for that quarter, checked against the company's filed figures or a second data source. Money is in $ million as the company files it, or in $ billion by the switch above the tables; per share figures and the share count are as they are. Free cash flow is operating cash flow less capital expenditure; the effective tax rate is income tax over pre-tax income; margins are the line over revenue. Gross profit is revenue less cost of revenue, and operating income is revenue less the company's own total costs, where the statement does not print those lines. Cash flow lines filed year to date are the difference between two filings. Shares outstanding are at the period end where the balance sheet tags them, otherwise the count on the filing's cover page. A derived fourth-quarter EPS is left blank when a split in the year makes the arithmetic meaningless.

10-K for the period ended 31 December 2021, filed 24 February 2022: the filing.