Target profits boosted by $593M payout in antitrust credit card settlements

Target’s latest quarterly profits would have been much worse if it had not received $593 million in settlements from an antitrust lawsuit against Visa and MasterCard that was filed a dozen years ago.

“When you look at the numbers, the profits don’t look too bad,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail. “If you take [the settlement money] out, operating income is down by about a third, and net income is down by over half. That shows you the true picture of the real slide in profitability at Target, and that’s a real issue for them.”

The Minneapolis-based retailer disclosed the settlements, which were reached in March and April, in its first quarter earnings report last week.

Target and several large retailers, including Kohl’s and Macy’s, sued Visa and MasterCard in 2013, claiming anticompetitive practices drove up the cost of fees that merchants pay when customers use credit or debit cards.

Most of the more than 30 retailers have now settled the lawsuits, which were an effort by large retailers to break the control Visa and MasterCard exerted over card-based payments. The plaintiffs argued in the lawsuit that true competition among banks would result in lower swipe fees and fairer merchant agreements.

Bolstered by the $593 million settlement, Target’s first quarter earnings grew 10% to $1 billion, or $2.27 a share. However, comparable sales fell 4% and, not counting the one-time boost, adjusted earnings were $1.30 a share when Wall Street analysts were expecting $1.65.

Target’s Chief Financial Officer Jim Lee acknowledged the settlement’s impact on the company’s first quarter performance, noting the operating margin rate of 6.2% included about 250 basis points of benefit from the settlement.

With the settlement money in hand, analysts say Target needs to shift focus back to the sales floor, where lingering economic uncertainty, rising costs and weakened discretionary spending continue to challenge profitability.

Target declined to comment on the specifics of the settlements it reached in March and April, respectively, with Visa and MasterCard.

The federal judge sealed details of Target’s settlement, but court documents from March 27 and April 17 say the retailer “fully settled all of its claims” against MasterCard and Visa.

The lawsuits were filed after big retailers rejected a $7.25 billion class-action settlement in 2013, which was the biggest of its kind at the time. Target and other major companies then filed their own separate lawsuits.

The rejected settlement said merchants in 2012 had paid $30 billion in interchange fees, also known as swipe or merchant fees.

The original class-action lawsuit was brought in 2003, challenging the “honor all cards” rule, which forced merchants to accept debit cards, which carried high signature-based fees, if they accepted credit cards.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was then amended in 2010 to rein in debit card interchange fees charged by large banks. But the amendment applied only to debit cards, not credit cards, and didn’t prohibit Visa or MasterCard from continuing non-price-related rules that restrict competition.

However, the 2013 Target lawsuit argues interchange fees actually increased after this settlement.

American Signature, Chico’s, and Premium Brands Services and Lane Bryant all reached settlements with Visa following Target’s settlement.

Other companies including Macy’s, Gap and Marathon Petroleum are continuing to push forward with a trial set for October.

Visa says it has not done anything wrong, arguing the retailers contract with companies that collect the fees and then pay credit card companies. Therefore the retailers don’t directly pay the fees to Visa, it says.