Trading
Worldline meets Q3 revenue estimates on merchant services strength
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
By Gianluca Lo Nostro
(Reuters) -French digital payments company Worldline reported on Wednesday third-quarter revenue broadly in line with analyst expectations, as a resilient performance in its merchant services business offset the termination of some contracts.
Revenue in the third quarter of the year fell 1.1% organically year-on-year to 1.16 billion euros ($1.3 billion), in line with analysts’ average estimate of 1.17 billion euros in a company-provided consensus.
The merchant services business – which contributes around 75% of the group’s adjusted core profit and provides services in payment terminals and e-commerce – saw 0.2% growth in revenue in the quarter, helped by steady growth in Central Europe and increased market share in southern Europe.
Facing slower consumer spending in Europe and a slump in its market valuation that led to its exclusion from France’s blue-chip CAC 40 index last year, Worldline’s attempts to boost its share price have been hampered by repeated cuts to its financial targets.
The Paris-based company, which processes digital transactions for clients ranging from merchants to government agencies, issued profit warnings in August and September, the more recent of which was announced with the exit of long-time CEO Gilles Grapinet.
The group confirmed its 2024 forecasts for adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of around 1.1 billion euros and organic growth of about 1%.
“We aim to return progressively to mid-single-digit revenue growth in 2025,” CEO Marc-Henri Desportes said in a statement.
Desportes was appointed for an interim period as Worldline management is still looking for Grapinet’s successor.
The board directors will name a new CEO, I’m committed to action today,” he said on a conference call with journalists.
Investment bank Intermonte analysts have said tie-ups are back on the table in the payments industry, pointing to Mario Draghi’s report on European Union competitiveness which could pave the way for a merger between Worldline and its Italian rival Nexi.
We have built a great success story in Italy, it’s normal for this to generate rumors… but what matters now is the margin of our business, that’s our priority,” Desportes said when asked about further M&A activity in Italy.
($1 = 0.9206 euros)
(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
EBITDA stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization. It is a measure used to analyze a company's operating performance.
Merchant services refer to a variety of financial services that enable businesses to accept payments from customers, including credit card processing and payment gateways.
Organic growth refers to the increase in revenue generated by a company through its existing operations, without acquisitions or mergers.
A profit warning is a statement issued by a company indicating that its earnings will fall below market expectations.
Market share is the percentage of an industry's sales that a particular company controls, reflecting its competitiveness within the market.
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