World financial news

Money transfer services firm Western Union Co. said Friday it expects 2008 earnings to be at the higher end of its guidance range of $1.18 to $1.22 per share and raised its long-term earnings growth goal as well.

Excluding a charge of 7 cents per share tied to restructuring, Western Union forecast earnings on the higher side of its operating earnings estimate of $1.25 to $1.29 per share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, forecast earnings of $1.28 per share for the year. Analysts do not always include special charges in their estimates.

Western Union now expects restructuring charges to total $79 million for the year, instead of $69 million because of a decision to close its San Francisco facility.

Western Union also raised its long-term earnings per share growth estimate to a range of 15% to 18% cash advance now. The previous estimate was 12% to 14%.

"Our decision to raise the long-term EPS objective comes from our confidence that we are successfully executing on Western Union’s strategy that positions us extremely well in the huge and growing global money transfer marketplace," Christina Gold, Western Union’s chief executive, said in a statement.

Western Union (WU, Fortune 500) plans to improve profitability by accelerating growth in its consumer-to-consumer business, globalizing its consumer-to-business segment, developing new products and services and reducing costs. 

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