Equals To Book GBP1 Million Hit From Fallout Of Wirecard Implosion

(Alliance News) - Equals Group PLC on Tuesday said it will take a GBP1.0 million charge from the ...

Alliance News 1 December, 2020 | 10:45AM
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(Alliance News) - Equals Group PLC on Tuesday said it will take a GBP1.0 million charge from the collapse of German payments firm Wirecard AG but added that it is "pleased" with its performance so far in 2020, despite a slight revenue slip.

Equals shares were 12% lower at 29.44 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.

In the 11 months to November 30, revenue is down 4.3% to GBP26.1 million from GBP27.2 million a year earlier, the payments company said.

Revenue per day fell at the same rate at GBP112,000 from GBP117,000 a year earlier, but improved from GBP110,000 in the first half of 2020.

"Despite the economic fallout from both Covid-19 pandemic and the collapse of Wirecard, the level of activity we are experiencing from our customers, particularly those in International Payments, but also now on the Spend platform provides us with increasing confidence for a recovery in 2021 and beyond," Chief Executive Officer Ian Taylor said.

Digital payments provider Wirecard in June admitted to a EUR1.9 billion hole in its accounts, and top executives were arrested on fraud suspicions soon after.

Equals said: "The retail card product was further negatively impacted by the wind-down of Wirecard and migration of the group's card infrastructure. This results in an exceptional charge of around GBP1.0 million, 50% a write-down of Wirecard card stock and 50% monies yet to be recovered from the supply chain.

"The exceptional charge incurred against the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic was redundancy and severance costs incurred to reduce the group's workforce, and is expected to be GBP1.0 million for the full year."

Equals said it is "pleased with the performance to date" and expects annual adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation at a similar level to the GBP672,000 reported in the first half of 2020.

By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security Name Price Change (%) Morningstar
Rating
Equals Group PLC 113.00 GBX 0.00 -
Wirecard AG

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