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☆ Wordline shares surge on report Credit Agricole could take stake
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The logo of payments company Worldline is seen at the company headquarters in the financial and business district of La Defense, near Paris, France, October 26, 2023. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsPARIS, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Shares in Worldline (WLN.PA) surged almost 12% on Friday after a media report said Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA) was considering acquiring a stake in the French payment processing company. Other French financial institutions could also look at playing a role in Worldline's future, Bloomberg added, citing some of the people. Italian payments company Nexi (NEXII.MI) last month confirmed its guidance while the Netherlands' Adyen (ADYEN.AS) reassured the market with its "more realistic" medium-term guidance. Worldline shares have fallen more than 58% this year.

Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes, Piotr Lipinski, Sharon Singleton, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: La Defense, REUTERS, Rights, Bloomberg, Credit, Thomson Locations: La, Paris, France, Worldline, Germany, cybercrime, Netherlands

The logo of payments company Worldline is seen at the company headquarters in the financial and business district of La Defense, near Paris, France, October 26, 2023. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON/PARIS, Dec 1 (Reuters) - French digital payments company Worldline (WLN.PA) is considering options including asset sales as part of efforts to reassure shareholders after a sharp drop in its share price, three people familiar with the matter said. Another said assets sales may come from its software businesses but suggested these might not be sizeable enough to revitalise its shares. Other French banks could also partner with Credit Agricole for a role in Worldline's future, this person added. Bloomberg first reported Credit Agricole's interest in buying a stake in Worldline, prompting its shares to soar by almost 12% earlier on Friday.

Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes, Worldline, Adyen, Tommaso Nieddu, Amy, Jo Crowley, Mathieu Rosemain, Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro, Diana Mandiá Álvarez, Gaëlle Sheehan, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: La Defense, REUTERS, Worldline's Mobility, Worldline, Credit Agricole SA, Credit Agricole, Bloomberg, Credit, Thomson Locations: La, Paris, France, PARIS, Germany, appeasing, Worldline's, U.S, Worldline

☆ Adyen lowers mid-term sales target, aims to slow hiring
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Adyen logo is seen at the reception desk of the company's headquarters in Amsterdam, Netherlands August 24, 2018. "Overall targets are lowered from previous targets and while likely more realistic, they still look ambitious," Jefferies analysts said in a note. Adyen added it would aim to improve its core profit (EBITDA) margin to above 50% in 2026. This year so far, Adyen has lost about half its market value which currently stands at 21.58 billion euros. It said it would slow down hiring, and that it hired 175 full-time employees over the quarter, which was "substantially below" Jefferies' expectations.

Persons: Eva Plevier, Adyen, France's, Jefferies, Olivier Sorgho, Piotr Lipinski, Elaine Hardcastle, Josie Kao Organizations: REUTERS, Netflix, Spotify, Jefferies, New, Thomson Locations: Amsterdam, Netherlands, New York, U.S

☆ Investors deliver harshest punishment for earnings warnings in 16 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Lucy Raitano | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Barclays (BARC.L), a big UK lender, fell as much as 8% after signalling major cost cuts because of weakness on its home turf. Mark Denham, head of European equities at Carmignac, said high quality companies with high valuations tend to be very vulnerable if they miss earnings. According to Kasper Elmgreen, CIO at Nordea Asset Management, the fact that the economy is now starting to slow is one factor behind investors' harsh treatment of earnings disappointments. Amid the volatility, some investors see a buying opportunity in overly punished stocks. It is an example of a highly valued stock being extra punished for the environment," Denham said.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Angelo Meda, Mark Denham, Denham, Kasper Elmgreen, Elmgreen, Fabio Di Giansante, Carmignac's Denham, Danilo Masoni, Alun John, Joice Alves, Amanda Cooper, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Sanofi, Barclays, Banor SIM, Siemens Energy, Volkswagen, Volvo, Asset Management, Euroland Equity, pharma, Thomson Locations: Milan, Swiss, London

Worldline's (WLN.PA) stock slide, which saw around $4 billion wiped off its market value, is the latest wake-up call. COMMISSIONS CUTRevenue growth has suffered at payments firms as inflation has force European consumers to spend less, while investors fret about the euro zone slipping into recession. Some analysts say payments firms have also been caught napping, after a period of growth during COVID lockdowns. In a further sign of investor wariness, venture capital investment flows into European payment firms have also dried up. Now, it may leave private equity investors to pick up the pieces for payment service firms, analysts said.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Paul Charpentier, Bryan Garnier, napping, Jefferies, Hannes Leitner, Leitner, Charpentier, wariness, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo, Morgan Stanley, Worldline, Bryan Garnier's Charpentier, Elizabeth Howcroft, Alexander Smith Organizations: REUTERS, PayPal, Holdings, Companies, Barclays, Reuters, Spain's Banco Sabadell, Fidelity National Information Services, CVC Capital Partners, CVC, Thomson Locations: London, U.S, Nexi, Europe

☆ Morning Bid: Megacaps scatter in the cloud
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., September 28, 2023. But after the S&P500 staged an impressive 0.7% bounce on Tuesday, futures were back in the red again ahead of the open. The negativity cut across what was otherwise a more upbeat macro picture and a calmer bond market following recent ructions. Chinese developer Country Garden (2007.HK) is deemed in default on a dollar bond for the first time, Bloomberg News reported. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Mike Dolan, Alphabet's, Microsoft's, Baker Hughes, Teradyne, Hess, Jerome Powell, Barbara Lewis Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Big Tech, Google, Microsoft, Meta, IBM, Boeing, Bloomberg News, Treasury, Bank of Canada, Deutsche Bank, United Health, General Dynamics, Whirlpool, Otis, Hilton, U.S, Reuters, PMI, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, HK, United States, Europe, Worldline, Germany, Ameriprise, EQT, Washington

☆ French payment company Worldline slump nearly 40% as it cuts targets
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 25 (Reuters) - Shares in Worldline (WLN.PA) slumped nearly 40% on Wednesday after the French payment company cut its full-year targets as the economic slowdown hurt its business in key markets including Germany. The group also said it had cut ties with some of its merchants to reduce risks "in light of an increase in cybercrime." The group now sees organic sales growth in 2023 of between 6% and 7%, compared with 8% to 10% previously. It also forecast a 150 basis point drop in its operating margin before depreciation and amortization for 2023, compared with a previous forecast of a 100 bps increase. "Worldline missed sales estimates in every division...These results are a disappointment in terms of the full-year miss and also that long-term targets have been discarded," JPMorgan analysts said.

Persons: Worldline, Lina Golovnya, Silvia Aloisi Organizations: JPMorgan, Thomson Locations: Germany

The Adyen share plunge "was because expectations were much higher. Analysts believed that Adyen would take significantly more share in this difficult market environment," said Jefferies equity analyst Hannes Leitner. Was the share price reaction justified? One European equities trader, who asked not to be named, noted there were orders to sell Adyen shares at any price and referred to "apocalypse selling." According to data from Refinitiv, 17 analysts rated Adyen "buy", 12 "hold", and 4 "sell" before the earnings announcement.

Persons: Eva Plevier, Jefferies, Hannes Leitner, Refinitiv, Adyen, Worldline, Italy's, Marco Simion, Pieter van der, ”, Samuel Indyk, Elizabeth Howcroft, Danilo Masoni, Toby Sterling, Dhara, Alun John, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: REUTERS, Analysts, Citigroup, UBS, KPMG, Privately, Thomson Locations: Amsterdam, Netherlands, MILAN, North America, Swiss, Adyen, EMEA, Refinitiv, London, Milan

☆ EU’s digital euro plan reflects defensive crouch
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A digital euro, he argues, is essential so that the EU does not fall “behind the curve” in global payments, private-label digital currencies and electronic versions of central bank money. Under the proposal, the European Central Bank would have control over who can use the digital euro, how it will be used internationally, and how much people can hold at one time. At the same time, the plan calls for a digital European currency to have an international role, part of efforts to shore up the euro as a global reserve currency. The EU plan calls for the digital euro to be accepted as legal tender almost everywhere, at no cost to ordinary consumers. If there is going to be a digital euro, Europe’s governments and institutions are clear that they, not the private sector, will be in charge.

Persons: Valdis Dombrovskis, Rebecca Christie, Eli Lilly, Aston Martin, George Hay, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, European Central Bank, U.S . Federal Reserve, Bank of England, EU, ECB, Twitter, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS

☆ Carmakers are poised for EV race to the bottom
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

On Thursday, the near 10 billion euro carmaker Renault (RENA.PA) appeared to have finally turned a corner after a painful pandemic. A Tesla-induced price war would be particularly painful for European carmakers like Renault, which is forecast to record an abysmal operating margin of around 6% this year, Refinitiv data show. But if Musk’s plan works and he hoovers up market share, Renault and its peers may have no choice. The party for European EV carmakers could be over just as it started. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ EQT tries tricky private-market fundraising puzzle
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 20 (Reuters Breakingviews) - When one pot of cash seems to be running low, it’s rational to seek another. That’s why EQT’s (EQTAB.ST) boss Christian Sinding is right to try raising money from rich individuals, rather than just institutions. The $24 billion Swedish private equity and real estate investor said alongside first-quarter results on Thursday that it was preparing fund structures for private wealth investors. This usually refers to people who are well-heeled but not deep-pocketed enough to have a dedicated private wealth management firm, a family office, looking after their money. EQT itself spooked shareholders in January, when it said that the fundraising for its new 20 billion euro EQT X vehicle was not happening as fast as analysts had predicted.

☆ AT&T’s magic number falls short
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

To do that, it needs free cash flow. AT&T, which makes most of its money from cellular customers, added 424,000 postpaid phone subscribers, above expectations, according to Reuters. Some of the issue is seasonal, with payments to phone vendors up after a busy holiday season of selling devices. But dividend payouts totaled 200% of cash flow, up from 133% a year ago. Those payments totaled $1.3 billion this quarter, meaning cash flow would be negative without them.

☆ Credit Agricole and Worldline plan French payments business
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, April 19 (Reuters) - Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA) and payment services company Worldline (WLN.PA) have begun exclusive talks to set up a joint venture to provide payment services to businesses and their customers, they said on Wednesday. The joint-venture, slated to be fully operational by 2025, would be majority owned by Worldline and fully consolidated in the payments company's accounts, they said. It will involve an investment of 80 million euros, shared equally between Worldline and Credit Agricole, they said. Credit Agricole has a target to increase sales stemming from payments by 20% by 2025. The French bank previously had a "strategic partnership" focused on payments with German group Wirecard, which filed for insolvency in 2020.

☆ Worldline seeks to crack tough French payments nut
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, April 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Worldline’s (WLN.PA) boss Gilles Grapinet has spotted an opportunity to access a hard-to-crack payments market. A partnership with Crédit Agricole will allow Worldline to enter Europe’s top market for merchant payments, which several domestic banks still handle directly. Analysts reckon the French bank will confer its entire merchant acquiring business to the new company. For Worldline, the deal may be a stepping-stone to make similar accords with other French lenders or even purchase the whole of Crédit Agricole’s payments business over time. But this deal shows that payments companies still have some scope for dealmaking to improve their fortunes.

☆ Allianz picks acceptable time to quit N26
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Allianz (ALVG.DE) is striking a blow for forlorn investors of privately held startups. While that would be a 68% discount to N26’s $9 billion valuation as of October 2021, Allianz’s exit route looks agreeably straightforward. N26 has enough cash to finance its operations until the end of 2024, when it is expected to reach profitability. The fight between banks for consumer deposits will force N26 to offer better interest rates for its customers, limiting its profit margin going foward. More to the point, Allianz doesn’t have to inform N26 of an intention to sell.

☆ Citi says it's time to reconsider ESG, naming 3 stocks that could soar by 30%
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

ESG investing underperformed the broader market in 2022, but strategists at Citi think the segment could be about to rebound. Last year, the MSCI Europe Socially Responsible Investing index declined by 13.4% compared to the 8.9% fall in the broader MSCI Europe index. But Citi said ESG stocks — or those which take environmental, social, and governance factors into account — have historically shown resilience, with profit growth outpacing the broader market during earnings slowdowns. In line with this renewed focus, Citi has identified a number of stocks that it expects to rebound this year. To identify ESG stocks with "resilient" earnings per share, Citi screened the Stoxx Europe 600 index for large-cap stocks meeting several proprietary criteria, including ranking in the top 50 percentile of Truvalue Labs ESG index.

☆ European shares edge higher ahead of more Wall St earnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Shubham Batra | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Rate-sensitive technology shares <.SX8P> fell 1.2% tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, while banking shares (.SX7P), which were the biggest gainers on Friday, fell 0.3% . Investors will closely monitor a slew of earnings reports led by Goldman Sachs (GS.N), Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N) due later in the week. Last week, Citigroup Inc (C.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) beat earnings expectations, benefiting from rising interest rates and easing fears of stress in the banking system. "Cautious optimism is the Monday motivation mantra, as stronger U.S. corporate news and signs of consumer resilience help to mask ongoing worries about the knock-on effect of higher interest rates," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown. Shares of Rovio (ROVIO.HE) rose 17.8% after Japan's Sega (6460.T) agreed to launch a 706 million euro offer for Angry Birds maker.

Under the deal, Nexi will buy 80% of Paycomet, Sabadell's payments subsidiary, for 280 million euros, with the Spanish lender retaining a 20% stake for at least three years. The business that handles shopowners' payments is a source of stable income for banks, but the need for hefty investments has prompted an increasing number of banks to dispose of all or part of their payments operations. With the deal, Nexi will come to handle transactions worth around 48 billion euros for more than 380,000 Spanish shopowners, adding around 30 million euros of core profit based on 2023 data, it said. The sale is at an enterprise value for the unit of 11.5 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. Rothschild and Jefferies were financial advisers to Nexi which also worked with BCG, KPMG and Allen & Overy.

☆ Worldline seeks more tech M&A as it beats Q4 sales estimates
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 21 (Reuters) - French payment services company Worldline (WLN.PA) will keep looking for technology acquisition opportunities in Europe, it said on Tuesday after it beat fourth-quarter sales expectations. The group, which processes digital payments for clients from merchants to government agencies, produced organic sales growth of 10.7% in 2022 and forecast 2023 organic sales growth of between 8% and 10% for 2023. JPMorgan analysts said: "Overall we see the results as good, the guidance at best in-line but not better than market expectations." Its fourth-quarter organic sales growth of 8.3% beat an analysts' consensus estimate of 7.7% provided by the company, which was driven by market share gains and volume growth in its Merchant Services business. Worldline reaffirmed its 2024 ambitions, including the goal of becoming leading consolidator of the European payment industry.

☆ Expansionist dreams threaten ECB digital euro plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Rebecca Christie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The idea of a digital euro with the same reserve backing as its physical equivalent is thus partly about Frankfurt controlling the process. At best, a digital euro could bring more citizens into the banking system, particularly those who don’t have enough money for traditional financial services products. That jars with central bankers’ preference to limit the digital euro to the EU at first. The euro does not need a digital currency, but its members have signalled they want one. Reuters GraphicsFollow @rebeccawire on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSEuro area finance ministers issued a statement on the so-called digital euro on Jan. 16, calling for political oversight and an international approach of a European central bank digital currency (CBDC).

☆ Atos in talks to sell Italian unit to Lutech
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Joyce Lee | Soo-Hyang Choi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Atos (ATOS.PA), under pressure from investors to boost profitability and its share price, said on Thursday it had entered into exclusive negotiations with Italian engineering company Lutech to sell its Italian unit for cash. The proposed transaction accounts for 2% of the group's total revenue in 2021, Atos said in a statement. The deal would be part of a 700 million euro asset sale programme Atos is undertaking to finance its turnaround plan, which entails splitting the group in two separate entities. Atos has already sold its remaining stake in French payments services company Worldline (WLN.PA) for 220 million euros. With the expected sale of the Italian unit, two thirds of the asset sales would be completed, Atos said.

☆ France's Worldline posts Q3 revenue beat, confirms guidance
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Elena Vardon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 25 (Reuters) - French payment company Worldline's (WLN.PA) quarterly revenue slightly beat expectations on Tuesday, driven by volume growth and market share gains in its merchant services business. "Thanks to this strong execution and a still solid level of transaction volumes, we confirm our 2022 annual guidance," Chief Executive Officer Gilles Grapinet said in a statement. The French group also announced on Tuesday it bought 55% of Polish start-up SoftPos.eu, which turns Android devices into secure payment terminals. Grapinet said the company will continue to invest in innovation as it considers diversifying its acquisition targets to address new market segments. ($1 = 1.0121 euros)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Elena Vardon and Juliette Portala; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Singapore air cargo deal elevates its hub status
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, Sept 29 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Singapore is boosting its hub status as global recession fears loom. Aviation services group SATS (SATS.SI) is acquiring the world’s largest air cargo logistics provider for $2.2 billion from U.S. buyout firm Cerberus. The deal could ultimately lift trade flows through Singapore where aviation contributes more than 5% of GDP. SATS is part of the city-state’s industry trinity that includes its former parent Singapore Airlines (SIAL.SI) and Changi Airport. As global cargo activity nears pre-pandemic levels, Singapore is providing a strategic home to an asset that’s passed through multiple financial owners.

☆ Beijing’s property bandage fails to staunch blood
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, Sept 29 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Another day, another Chinese property market selloff. Hong Kong-listed CIFI (0884.HK) on Wednesday confirmed that it defaulted on an onshore trust loan linked to a property development, blaming slow sales. By the next morning, panicked investors had already wiped out half of CIFI’s market value, some $765 million. The stronger parts of the property market are weakening, and fast. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Apple tests idea of discretionary spending
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Sept 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Apple (AAPL.O) may learn that its moat isn’t as wide during times of high inflation. When wallets are pinched, a new iPhone probably isn’t a must-have. As other currencies have weakened relative to the dollar, Apple has had to raise prices to keep the cost steady relative to America. Already Apple’s share of the global smartphone market has declined sharply to 16% in the second quarter from 23% penetration in the fourth quarter last year, according to research firm IDC. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

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