“We expect net revenue growth for the full year 2023 to be at a low teens rate on a currency-neutral basis, excluding acquisitions and special items.”

In context

“ear. At the same time, as Michael noted, the recovery in cross-border travel continues with inbound travel to all regions now well above 2019 levels. Within Asia, in Q1, China outbound cross-border travel increased to approximately 65% of Q1 2019 levels, while inbound reached 45% on the same basis. As a reminder, China made up 2% of outbound and 1% of inbound cross-border travel in 2019. We remain well positioned to capitalize on this growth with our travel-oriented portfolios and related service offerings. While we are monitoring a number of macro and geopolitical factors, our base case scenario assumes consumer spending remains resilient and cross-border travel continues to recover. For the year, our outlook has improved modestly, reflecting our stronger-than-expected performance in Q1. We expect net revenue growth for the full year 2023 to be at a low teens rate on a currency-neutral basis, excluding acquisitions and special items. This growth rate would be higher by approximately 1.5 ppt if you exclude Russia-related revenues from 2022. Foreign exchange is expected to be a tailwind of 1 ppt for the year, and we expect minimal impact from acquisitions. Our expectations for operating expense for the year are unchanged with growth expected to be at the high end of a high single-digit rate on a currency-neutral basis, excluding acquisitions and special items. Acquisitions are forecasted to add about 1 ppt to this growth, while foreign exchange is expected to have a minimal impact for the year. Again, we are prepared to proactively adjust our operating expenses if we see meaningful changes to top line growth. With respect to the second quarter, year-over-year net revenue is expected to grow at the high end of a low doub”