Wirecard Hangs On to Full-Year Estimates, Stays Silent on Audit

(Bloomberg) -- Wirecard AG said it still expects full-year earnings to rise, even as some business customers struggle with the lockdown.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization will be 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to 1.2 billion euros in 2020, the company said in its preliminary first-quarter earnings statement on Thursday. Adjusted first-quarter ebitda rose 29% to about 204 million euros.

The German payment processor didn’t further address an inconclusive audit by KPMG released last month that was meant to clear the company of accusations about its accounting practices. Chief Executive Officer Markus Braun has dismissed calls to step down instead saying the company will implement sweeping measures to improve compliance and control.

Key Insights

• The company has said it would expand its management board to seven members and appoint a chief compliance officer. On Wednesday, it appointed Joerg Brand, First Data GmbH’s former management board spokesman and head of sales, to oversee Wirecard’s risk-management division.
• The independent KPMG audit of Wirecard said it was unable to obtain the data it needed and criticized the company for internal “shortcomings” and an unwillingness by its third-party partners to contribute to the report.
• Germany’s financial regulator said it is reviewing the KPMG report on Wirecard to see if it contains new information on whether the company is a reliable owner of a bank. BaFin said with every bank it looks at the reliability of the owners when a report like KPMG’s comes out.

Market Context

• Wirecard shares have plunged 35% in the last 12 months through Wednesday.
• The full first-quarter statement will be published on June 16.

Get More

• Wirecard Faces Investor Lawsuit Over Compliance Allegations
• Wirecard Says KPMG Could Not Review All Data for Audit
• See the full numbers here: Wirecard AG: Wirecard AG: Preliminary result Q1 2020

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