QIWI plc (QIWI) Reports Q4 EPS of $0.21; Provides FY19 Outlook

QIWI plc (NASDAQ: QIWI) reported Q4 EPS of $0.21. Revenue for the quarter came in at $134 million

Fourth Quarter 2018 Operating and Financial Highlights

• Total Adjusted Net Revenue increased 41% to RUB 5,818 million ($83.7 million)
• Payment Services Segment Net Revenue increased 35% to RUB 4,741 million ($68.2 million)
• Adjusted EBITDA increased 53% to RUB 1,473 million ($21.2 million)
• Adjusted Net Profit increased 58% to RUB 1,014 million ($14.6 million), or RUB 16.40 per diluted share
• Payment Services Segment Net Profit increased 28% to RUB 2,584 million ($37.2 million) or RUB 41.77 per diluted share
• Total Payment Services volume increased 32% to RUB 330.7 billion ($4.8 billion)

“Today I’m excited to present our fourth quarter and full year 2018 financial results and share several operating highlights. This year we demonstrated outstanding performance, especially in our Payment Services business, which delivered 31% segment net revenue growth and 26% segment net profit growth, with growth rates accelerating throughout the year and significantly improving as compared to the trends we saw in 2016 and 2017. Moreover, we have reached an important milestone surpassing RUB 1 trillion in payment volume of our payment services business this year. I would like to highlight that the reacceleration of our payment services business was driven largely by the development of numerous new use cases that are well fitted to serve our users, merchants and partners including betting merchants, self-employed and sharing economy partners. Our growth was simultaneously underpinned by secular trends in our key markets demonstrating the adaptability and resilience of the payment ecosystem we have developed and will continue to develop further,” said Sergey Solonin, QIWI’s chief executive officer. “As we continued to benefit from the strong performance of the Payment Services segment, which remains a core part of our business, generating substantial cash flows, I believe we are well positioned to pursue our strategy and carry on our investments in the new business lines and projects. This being said, I am glad to confirm that this year we have completed the transactions with Otkritie in respect of both Tochka and Rocketbank. I believe that both projects have unique proprietary product offerings and expertise, and have a significant potential to enrich our ecosystem. This year we have built a strong foundation for future growth, we are well positioned to continue building up our ecosystem, diversifying our operations, increasing the life cycle of our clients with an ultimate goal of securing the long-term growth prospects of our Company.”

.

2019 Guidance2

QIWI provides its guidance in respect of 2019 outlook:

• Total Adjusted Net Revenue is expected to increase by 0% to 8% over 2018;
• Adjusted Net Profit is expected to increase by 15% to 25% over 2018;
• Payment Services Segment Net Revenue is expected to increase by 10% to 18% over 2018;
• Payment Services Segment Net Profit is expected to increase by 8% to 16% over 2018.

For the purpose of the guidance in respect of 2019 outlook we would like to outline the following considerations:We will stop recognizing the portion of Tochka revenues associated with information and technology service agreements with Otkritie Bank for providing services to Tochka clients that have their accounts with Otkritie Bank starting from February 1, 2019 following the transfer of the Tochka operations to JSC Tochka. Such revenues were recognized in full for the full year 2018; however, they will only be recognized for one month in 2019. For the avoidance of doubt, only the revenues related to Tochka clients that have their accounts with QIWI bank will be recognized as QIWI group revenues in 2019. We will correspondingly account JCS Tochka as an equity associate going further.

We believe that the financial results of Rocketbank as well as underlying business trends and targets for this segment will not materially change throughout the year and will be in line with the first half of 2019, thus we include associated full year forecasts in our guidance. However, we reserve the right to adjust the Rocketbank strategy and corresponding financial forecasts for the segment throughout the year based on the results of our review of Rocketbank strategy.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on QIWI plc (QIWI) click here.

You May Also Be Interested In

• Tesla plans 'flying' Roadster stunt at SpaceX Texas site as early as August
• Diana Shipping drops bid for Genco after price demands spike to $36.91
• SanDisk upgraded at JPMorgan after investor day; shares climb