Russia's Qiwi upgrades 2021 outlook as money remittances segment grows

: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- 15per cent in 2021 compared to a previous forecast of 15-30per cent decline year-on-year. Net revenue is seen to decrease 10-15per cent year-on-year versus 15per cent-25per cent 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 40per cent stake in Tochka to Bank Otkritie, gaining 6.2 billion roubles.

Qiwi said its third-quarter adjusted net profit fell 17.4per cent year-on-year to 2.71 billion roubles (US$36.21 million) and total revenue declined by 8.4per cent to 11.75 billion roubles.

At the same time, money remittances segment grew by 40.5per cent year-on-year, while financial services rose by 10.1per cent 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 US$0.30 per share and announced appointment of Alexey Mashchenkov as Chief Financial Officer.

Moscow-listed GDRs in Qiwi rose 5.5per cent by 1256 GMT.

(US$1 = 74.8330 roubles)

(Reporting by Anna Rzhevkina. Editing by Louise Heavens and David Evans)