By Nicholas G. Miller

Western Union reported lower first-quarter profit as increased immigration enforcement continued to hurt remittances, a kind of transfer through which immigrants send money back to their home countries.

Shares fell 12% to $8.26. The stock is down 19% over the past 12 months.

"Remittances in the Americas have faced meaningful pressure that began early last year and continued through this winter," said Chief Executive Devin McGranahan during a call with analysts. "We saw meaningful declines to markets like Mexico, Ecuador and Guatemala, driven by a combination of migration dynamics and U.S. immigration policy."

McGranahan said those trends are starting to stabilize and possibly improve, but that weakness in remittances to some countries, such as Colombia, has continued.

"After a period of disruption tied to immigration policy and labor-market uncertainty, we are seeing more consistent sending patterns," McGranahan said. In "many of these economies, remittances represent a significant share of [gross domestic product] and are nondiscretionary for senders."

For the first quarter, the Western Union posted net income of $64.7 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with $123.5 million, or 36 cents a share, the year before.

Adjusted earnings were 25 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 39 cents a share.

The company said profit was affected by lower fixed-cost coverage in owned locations, timing of vendor incentives and higher costs associated with new strategic partnerships, as well as a large foreign-currency loss and a higher tax rate.

"First-quarter results reflect the continued challenges in our Americas retail business as well as a few discrete items affecting the quarter," McGranahan said.

Revenue came in at $982.7 million, compared with $983.6 million the year prior. Wall Street expected $960.6 million.

The money-transfer company reiterated its full-year guidance for nonadjusted revenue growth of 5% to 8% and adjusted earnings of $1.75 to $1.85 a share. Analysts see full-year adjusted earnings of $1.79 a share.

Write to Nicholas G. Miller at nicholas.miller@wsj.com.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 24, 2026 10:14 ET (14:14 GMT)

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