Wirecard rejects FT report as shares drop
Reuters
Published Oct 15, 2019 10:27AM ET
LONDON/BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Wirecard (DE:WDIG) rejected allegations of impropriety on Tuesday after the Financial Times newspaper published documents on the company's accounting practices which it said appeared to indicate an effort to inflate sales and profits.
Shares in the payments group sank more than 20% and its euro-denominated bonds
"Today's article by the Financial Times is a compilation of a number of false and misleading allegations... which were already fully refuted before," Wirecard said in a statement.
At 1349 GMT, the company's shares were down 14.1% after hitting their lowest since April 24, making them the biggest faller on Germany's DAX 30 (GDAXI) and on track for their worst day since early February.
The newspaper published documents including internal company spreadsheets and related correspondence between senior members of Wirecard's finance team, which, in an accompanying article, it said appeared to indicate an effort to inflate sales and profits at Wirecard's businesses in Dubai and Ireland, as well as to potentially mislead EY, its tier-one auditor.
Wirecard said it was regrettable that the Financial Times chose to publish "such an irresponsible" article.
German markets regulator Bafin said it would include Tuesday's share price drop in a market manipulation investigation it started in April after earlier FT reports on the company sent the stock sliding.
"We are in very close coordination with Munich prosecutors," a Bafin spokeswoman told financial news website Boerse Online.
Tuesday's FT report comes after the paper published a series of stories earlier this year alleging fraud and false accounting at Wirecard's Singapore office and that a key Middle East unit was not properly audited.
The company has already denied the FT's previous allegations, saying that although Dubai-based subsidiary Card Systems was not individually audited, its books had undergone higher-level "full-scope" scrutiny by auditor EY.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.