The French electronic payments specialist Worldline published on Thursday a turnover up 2.5% in the first quarter year-on-year, to 1.1 billion euros, in a “still gloomy macroeconomic context”.
Worldline is on track to achieve its objectives for the year 2024, commented its general director Gilles Grapinet, quoted in a press release, despite a context of household spending which remains sluggish.
For several quarters, inflation has led to a slowdown in sales volumes among retailers, on which Worldline is paid, and to consumer arbitrage in favor of retailers of significant size, such as hard discount players, who are less profitable for Worldline.
The company also terminated a certain number of contracts following an inspection by BaFin, the German financial supervisor, further impacting its turnover.
This nevertheless remains higher than expected by analysts interviewed by the data provider Factset and the financial agency Bloomberg. It was 1.07 billion euros in the first quarter of 2023.
In detail, the group’s main activity, services to merchants, generated 787 million euros in turnover between January and March (+3.9% constant scope and exchange rates), supported in particular by the activity in Italy.
The two other branches of the former Atos subsidiary, financial services as well as mobility and transactional web services, represent respectively 225 million euros (-1.4% over one year) and 85 million euros (+0 .7%) of turnover in the first quarter.
The company also confirmed on Thursday its objective of growth of at least 3% of its turnover for 2024.
In order to ease tensions with its shareholders, Worldline announced on March 21 the tightening of its board of directors, which went from 15 to 12 members, in addition to the 2 salaried directors.
The former boss of the credit insurer Euler Hermes Wilfried Verstraete will be called upon to chair it, if the shareholders decide so at the general meeting scheduled for June 13.
Crdit Agricole SA, a long-term minority shareholder since the start of the year, will normally also have a headquarters.
Worldline is seeking to relaunch itself after a difficult year in 2023, marked by a collapse on the stock market and the exit from the CAC 40, the death of the former president and a revolt from an activist fund. On the social front, Worldline announced on February 7 a plan to cut jobs.