By Allison Prang

Mastercard is guiding for its adjusted operating expenses this quarter to decrease.

Mastercard Inc. said it expects operating expenses on a currency neutral basis, not including acquisitions, to fall in the low single digits in the fourth quarter compared with a year ago, Chief Financial Officer Sachin Mehra said on the company's earnings call, noting that guidance in part reflects "continued focus on expense management as well as sequentially higher advertising and marketing spend related to promotional campaigns." He said acquisitions are expected to contribute between about four and five percentage points to fourth-quarter operating expenses.

The CFO also said the company expects foreign exchange to hurt revenue by one percentage point. He said Mastercard expects foreign exchange will be between a zero-percentage-point headwind to a one-percentage-point headwind to operating expenses.

Write to Allison Prang at allison.prang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-28-20 1249ET