MasterCard Inc said on Wednesday that quarterly earnings rose 63 percent, helped by rising spending volume and the sale of part of its stake in a Brazilian credit and debit card network.

The results beat expectations, and MasterCard's shares rose 8 percent in pre-market trading.

The Purchase, New York-based company said third-quarter earnings were $314 million, or $2.31 a share, compared with $193 million, or $1.42 a share, a year earlier.

The third quarter results included a $70 million, or 51 cents-a-share, gain from the sale of a stake in Redecard S.A.

Excluding that gain, results were $1.80 a share, or 38 cents a share more than analysts on average had expected, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue rose 20.1 percent to $1.08 billion. The dollar volume of transactions processed on the MasterCard network rose 12.8 percent to $577 billion, in local currency terms.

MasterCard's shares rose 8 percent to $169.50 in pre-market trade.

(Reporting by Dan Wilchins)

New York