Qiwi PLC (NASDAQ: QIWI) stock fell 1.5% on May 23rd, 2018 (as of 1:10 PM GMT-4; Source: google finance) though the company posted better than expected results. In the first quarter, the adjusted EBITDA fell 5 percent to RUB 1,450 million ($25.3 million) largely driven by growth of SG&A expense. The Adjusted Net Profit also fell 15 percent to RUB 1,081 million ($18.9 million) due to increase in income tax expenses and decrease of foreign exchange gain.
The company throughout 2017, have been heavily investing in the new project SOVEST and the company expects to continue to bear significant costs related to the SOVEST project and certain other projects that the company are developing now or plan to develop in the future. Thus, starting from the third quarter 2017 QIWI have taken a decision to refrain from paying dividends.
On the other hand, QIWI has executed a series of transactions to acquire the brands, software and hardware of Tochka, which is a digital banking service focused on offering a broad range of services to small and medium businesses, and Rocketbank, which is a digital banking service offering debit cards and deposits to retail customers, from Otkritie Bank. The company has also entered into certain operational agreements with Otkritie Bank in connection with these transactions. As of March 31, 2018 QIWI are operating Tochka project as a multi-banking service providing its customers the opportunity to open accounts with either Qiwi Bank or Otkritie Bank.
Meanwhile, QIWI in the first quarter of FY 18 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $17.62, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $0.28. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 41 percent to $4.10 billion in the first quarter of FY 18, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $3.83 billion. The revenue grew main due to Payment Services and SME Segments Net Revenue growth.
Additionally, for 2018, QIWI has upgraded its Total Adjusted Net Revenue guidance, and expects to increase by 15% to 20% over 2017. The company for 2018 expects Payment Services Segment Net Revenue to increase by 12% to 16% over 2017. For 2018, the Adjusted Net Profit is expected to decline by 10% to 0% over 2017 and Payment Services Segment Net Profit is expected to increase by 10% to 15% over 2017.