BERLIN, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- The German payment system provider Wirecard revised its earnings forecast for 2019 upwards on Wednesday after recording strong revenue and profit growth during the third quarter (Q3) of 2018.
"We expect strong business growth in both the fourth quarter of 2018 and also the coming 2019 fiscal year," chief executive officer (CEO) Markus Braun announced at his company's corporate headquarters in Aschheim.
Wirecard confirmed an earlier preliminary estimate that its revenue grew by 34.8 percent to 547.1 million euros (616.3 million U.S. dollars) in Q3. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) also rose significantly to 150.1 million euros (36.3 percent) during the same period.
In view of the strong business performance, the Management Board increased its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBIDTA) forecast for the 2018 fiscal year to between 550 million euros and 570 million euros after indicating a range between 530 million euros and 560 million euros previously.
Founded out of a Munich suburb in 1999, Wirecard describes itself as one of the world's fastest growing digital platforms in the area of financial commerce. The company has hedged its bets on trend towards a preference for electronic payments over cash and has recently expanded significantly in North America and Asia.
In September this year, Wirecard rose into the DAX blue-chip stock exchange in Germany for the first time where it replaced Commerzbank. With a market capitalization of 19.4 billion euros, the company is currently considered to be more valuable than Deutsche Bank, the largest German lender, by investors.
