Worldline slumps after revenue miss, new CEO to give update in April

By Gianluca Lo Nostro, Alessandro Parodi and Florence Loeve

PARIS/GDANSK (Reuters) - Shares in Worldline fell 15% after the French digital payments company reported on Wednesday yearly revenues slightly below analysts' estimates and said its newly appointed CEO would issue a more detailed outlook later in the year.

Pierre-Antoine Vacheron was named CEO, effective March 1, late Tuesday, replacing Gilles Grapinet, who left at the end of a disappointing year marked by multiple profit warnings.

Worldline's shares are trading near record lows after hitting all-time highs during the pandemic, as consumers increasingly resumed making physical payments rather than relying on digital transactions.

At 0856 GMT the shares were down 15% at 6.3 euros ($6.61).

While annual results were disappointing, the choice of an external CEO was positive, J.P. Morgan said.

Vacheron, previously head of Natixis Payments, a unit of French bank BPCE, will present his strategic plan in the autumn, the company said.

"2024 was a year of transformation and refocusing. In 2025, we're getting ready to bounce back," Worldline's CFO Gregory Lambertie told journalists in a post-earnings call.

Worldline expects 2025 revenue growth in line with last year and will give an update along with its first-quarter results on April 23.

"We see these targets as conservative, which should give significant leeway for the new CEO for further restructuring", Stifel analysts said in a note.

Annual revenue edged up 0.5% to 4.63 billion euros ($4.87 billion) last year, missing the 4.64 billion euros analysts on average had expected in a company compiled poll. Worldline had cut its growth forecast to around 1% in September.

SECTOR STRUGGLES

The Paris-based fintech is one of Europe's biggest payments service providers but has underperformed Dutch rival Adyen which has a bigger global footprint and partnerships with e-commerce giants that have driven its growth.

As the sector struggles with low valuations more companies are teaming up to drive growth.

Worldline will soon launch a payments venture with Credit Agricole. French lender BNP Paribas will team up with BPCE to create a similar payment processor called Estreem, aiming for card payments leadership in France.

"We do not expect material impact of that venture on our business", Lambertie said in a call with analyst.

($1 = 0.9528 euros)

(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro and Alessandro Parodi in Gdansk; and Florence Loève in Paris; Editing by Richard Chang and Elaine Hardcastle)