Wirecard Shares May Be Worth Just 1 Euro, Bank of America Says

(Bloomberg) -- Wirecard AG’s shares, which were trading at just over 100 euros a week ago, may be worth a single euro apiece, according to an analyst at Bank of America Corp.

“Recent news flow suggests that customers may have started to leave Wirecard and lenders may be weighing closure of credit lines,” analyst Adithya Metuku said in a note to clients on Wednesday. “Clarity on the underlying business is unlikely to arise for some time.”

Metuku cut his price target on the stock to 1 euro from 14 euros and reiterated an underperform rating. Several analysts have removed their recommendations and downgraded the stock since the shares collapsed in the last week amid an accounting scandal. The stock was down 12% to 15.1 euros at 12:32 p.m. in Frankfurt.

Shares of the former fintech darling have been hammered after it announced it would have to delay publication of its annual financial results for the fourth time and said auditors were unable to find 1.9 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in missing cash. The company has since said that the money probably never existed.

Wirecard on Wednesday was given a short reprieve from the lenders on its 1.75 billion-euro revolving credit facility after banks decided to assess the company’s long-term viability before telling it to repay the loan. Customers including Singapore ride hailing company Grab Holdings Inc. are among businesses distancing themselves from Wirecard, making its recovery harder.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.