QIWI plc (QIWI) Tops Q1 EPS by 6c, Revenues Beat; 'Upgrades' FY19 Outlook

QIWI plc (NASDAQ: QIWI) reported Q1 EPS of $0.33, $0.06 better than the analyst estimate of $0.27. Revenue for the quarter came in at $82.9 million versus the consensus estimate of $64.88 million.

• Total Adjusted Net Revenue increased 31% to RUB 5,367 million ($82.9 million)
• Payment Services Segment Net Revenue increased 32% to RUB 4,836 million ($74.7 million)
• Adjusted EBITDA increased 61% to RUB 2,336 million ($36.1 million)
• Adjusted Net Profit increased 53% to RUB 1,653 million ($25.5 million), or RUB 26.64 per diluted share
• Payment Services Segment Net Profit increased 35% to RUB 2,988 million ($46.2 million) or RUB 48.17 per diluted share
• Total Payment Services volume increased 31% to RUB 326.0 billion ($5.0 billion)

“Today I’m glad to present our first quarter 2019 financial results. This quarter we continue to demonstrate strong performance, especially in our Payment Services business, which delivered 32% segment net revenue growth and 35% segment net profit growth. I would like to highlight that the performance of our payment services business continues to be driven predominantly by the development of our product proposition aimed at our user, merchant and partners including solutions for digital entertainment merchants, self-employed and sharing economy partners. Our growth is simultaneously underpinned by the secular trends in our key markets demonstrating the adaptability and resilience of the payment ecosystem we have developed so far and aim to develop further,” said Sergey Solonin, QIWI’s chief executive officer. “As we continued to benefit from the strong performance and substantial cash flows generated by the Payment Services segment, which remains a core part of our business, I believe we are well positioned to pursue our strategy and carry on our investments in the new projects. We are well positioned to continue building up our ecosystem, diversifying our operations and increasing the life cycle of our clients with an ultimate goal of securing the long-term growth prospects of our Company.”

2019 Outlook

QIWI upgrades its guidance in respect of 2019 outlook:

• Total Adjusted Net Revenue is expected to increase by 9% to 15% over 2018;
• Adjusted Net Profit is expected to increase by 40% to 50% over 2018;
• Payment Services Segment Net Revenue is expected to increase by 20% to 25% over 2018;
• Payment Services Segment Net Profit is expected to increase by 20% to 25% 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 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. 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.

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