A shiver runs down the spines of European digital payments, all interconnected with each other. At Piazza Affari the black jersey this morning is for nexi, which suffered a 4,07% drop at mid-session and stands at 6,08 euros but the collapse at Paris, of about 18%, of the colleague French Worldline also active in digital payments.
The Italian payments group, owned by Cdp, the largest in Europe in terms of transactions processed, just yesterday at the shareholders' meeting Luca Velussi's appointment confirmed like administrator of the company, following the co-optation of the board of directors on May 8, which will remain in office until the meeting for the approval of the 2024 budget.
Il Nexi title in the last month it has shown an increase of over 6%, also thanks to the good results shown at the end of July, but in the last sessions there has been no shortage of sales. And this morning the cold shower in the wake of the colleague from across the Alps.
French Worldline's profit warning: it's the third
Worldline, also active in digital payments, has announced theCeo Gilles Grapinet exits and threw a profit warning cutting its 2024 revenue and EBITDA forecasts, citing “specific performance challenges” in some sectors.
Le new forecasts from Woldline now indicate a 1% decline in turnover in 2024, against the +2-3% forecast still at the beginning of August, although the numbers could "increase if economic conditions improve", says the company. EBITDA is expected around 1,1 billion euros, down from the previous 1,13-1,17 billion.
“This is the third alarm on the accounts,” Jefferies analysts stressed. Since the beginning of the year, Worldline's share price has lost more than half of its value, falling from over 15 euros to the current 6,9 euros per share.
As for the change at the top, Grapinet is leaving after eleven years. The company has specified that it is looking for his successor, while the number two Marc-Henri Desportes will manage the interim. “With the guidance of Desportes we will continue the execution of the Power24 plan" says the company, which includes among other things the exit of 8% of the 18 thousand employees, "and of all our great development initiatives", assured the president Wilfried Verstraete. The capital markets day, scheduled for November 26, has been postponed and postponed indefinitely to "allow the new CEO to contribute to the strategy definition process".
Nexi: profits above expectations and buyback in sight
Nexi had said at the end of July that it would use the growing excess liquidity to buy back your own shares faster than expected as second-quarter net profit slightly beat forecasts. Nexi met its annual targets after quarterly revenue rose 5,8% year-on-year to 879 million euros ($950 million), slightly above the company's average estimate of 873 million euros. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 7,5% to 465 million euros, beating analysts' forecasts by 6,2%.