The DAX Fintech Wirecard is acquiring a majority stake in the Chinese payment processor Allscore Payment Services. At the same time, the Munich-based company's profit forecasts are pointing sharply upward.
Wirecard is acquiring 80 percent of the shares in the Beijing-based payment processor Allscore Payment Services, founded in 2007. The Munich-based company can acquire the remaining 20 percent of the shares after two years via a call option. The decisive factor for the acquisition was apparently the Chinese company's license portfolio. This should enable the DAX-listed company to offer internationally active Chinese merchants global payment services as well as payouts in their local currency. Non-Chinese Wirecard customers should also benefit from easier access to Chinese consumers. In addition, Wirecard will be able to issue payment cards for consumers and businesses in China in the future. Wirecard CEO Markus Braun says:
"We are very pleased to announce our market entry into China today. The Chinese market represents an excellent opportunity for us. This comprehensive licensing package is a perfect complement to our global platform strategy."
The acquisition will cost the Munich-based company up to €72.4 million in total. Wirecard estimates that the Chinese company will generate an EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) in the single-digit million euro range next year. After the full integration, EBITDA of more than €35 million is expected in the 2021 fiscal year. EBITDA is expected to exceed €50 million by 2022.
Wirecard expects billion-dollar profit in 2020
The fintech company can easily afford the acquisition at the moment: In the first nine months of this year, Wirecard generated a profit after taxes of 387 million euros. This represents an increase of 53 percent compared to the first three quarters of 2018. So far in 2019, Wirecard has processed transactions totaling 124 billion euros — an increase of 38 percent over the same period last year.
For the full 2019 financial year, the Management Board expects EBITDA of between EUR 765 million and EUR 815 million, and for 2020, operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of between EUR 1.00 billion and 1.12 billion.
