COPENHAGEN: Danish payment processing company Nets (NETS.CO), which has seen its shares slump by a fifth since listing in September, reassured investors on Wednesday by slightly raising its forecast for annual operating profit.
The company, which issues Denmark’s most popular debit card, reported operating profit (EBITDA) growth of 18 percent in its third quarter, driven by bank and business customers.
Organic revenue growth for the year is now forecast to be between 6-7 percent from an earlier figure of around 6 percent, while the EBITDA margin before special items is predicted to be between 35-36 percent from a previous forecast of around 35 percent.
Although the changes were relatively small, Nets shares gained 7.5 percent to 130.70 Danish crowns. When listed, Nets was valued at 30 billion Danish crowns ($4.5 billion) at an offer price of 150 crowns.
Refinancing expenses and costs related to the IPO pushed the company to an overall third quarter loss of 831 million crowns.
Nets has also been hurt by Danske Bank’s (DANSKE.CO) decision to select Swedish rival Bambora to handle mobile phone transactions via the app Mobilepay.”It’s a quite promising report, especially after the disappointing listing,” said Alm. Brand Markets analyst Michael Jorgensen.
($1 = 6.6455 Danish crowns)
