-Russian payment services provider Qiwi upgraded its outlook on Tuesday due to volume growth in money remittances and financial services.
The company now expects adjusted net profit to decrease 10- 15% in 2021 compared to a previous forecast of 15-30% decline year-on-year. Net revenue is seen to decrease 10-15% year-on-year versus 15%-25% fall expected earlier.
The outlook reflects recent changes in the betting industry landscape, conservative projections of recovery in cross-border operations, and the sale of a stake in digital services provider Tochka, the company said in a statement.
In the third quarter Qiwi completed the sale of its 40% stake in Tochka to Bank Otkritie, gaining 6.2 billion roubles.
Qiwi said its third-quarter adjusted net profit fell 17.4% year-on-year to 2.71 billion roubles ($36.21 million) and total revenue declined by 8.4% to 11.75 billion roubles.
At the same time, money remittances segment grew by 40.5% year-on-year, while financial services rose by 10.1% year-on-year.
Qiwi expects to retain part of the betting revenue generated from Qiwi wallet services, including commissions for betting accounts top-ups and winning payouts following changes in betting industry regulation.
It added, however, there was no assurance that recent changes will not have an adverse impact on the overall usage of Qiwi wallet.
The company approved a dividend of $0.30 per share and announced appointment of Alexey Mashchenkov as Chief Financial Officer.
Moscow-listed GDRs in Qiwi rose 5.5% by 1256 GMT.
($1 = 74.8330 roubles)
