Worldpay shares slump on maiden results

The FTSE 100 payment processing company, which listed in October, saw revenue grow 9% during the calendar year to £3.96bn, from £3.63bn in 2014. Net revenue - defined as revenue less interchange and scheme fees - was up 14% to £981.7m.

Worldpay processed a total of 13.1bn transactions in 2015 - an increase of 14% - which were worth a combined £401.9bn - up 9% on 2014.

The company's gross profit was £860.4m, up 12%, while underlying EBITDA was up 8% to £406.1m. Worldpay's operating profit totalled £166.9m, up 34% on 2014.

It turned around its reported loss of £47.1m in 2014, to post a reported profit before tax of £19.1m. Underlying pro forma earnings per share were 6.9p, 50% up from 4.6p.

"We made significant operational and financial progress in 2015," said WorldPay chief executive officer Philip Jansen.

"It was a year of considerable achievement - in the implementation of our strategy, in strengthening and deepening our market presence, capabilities and technology, and helping our customers prosper," he added.

During the year, Worldpay saw growth in all key customer segments, and reported significant investment in new products, including enhanced mobile offerings, fraud prevention tools and data analytics.

Its new technology platform build was now substantially complete, with customer on-boarding to begin in summer of this year.

Worldpay said its Global eCom and UK divisions outperformed against expectations, with good revenue performance in the US division - though the costs of transformation there were higher than expected.

Looking at the current year, Worldpay's board said it had made a solid start, and was trading in line with expectations. Its guidance for the medium term remained unchanged.

"The group has made a good start to 2016, in line with expectations, and these results provide a strong platform for continued growth over the medium term," Jansen explained.

The company's board did not recommend a dividend. It said the company's maiden dividend as a public company would most likely come with the interim results this year, to be paid in November 2016.

At 1150 GMT, shares in Worldpay were down 10.93% to 260p. Credit Suisse described the results as solid, and in line with expectations, but said the firm might struggle to match high investor expectations going forward.