Wirecard says missing $2 billion never existed. Its stock is down 85% in 3 days
Scandal-hit German payments firm Wirecard has said the €2 bn missing from its accounts simply may not exist.
Wirecard’s chief executive quit as the search for the missing cash hit a dead end in the Philippines.
On Sunday the central bank of Philippines said none of the money appears to have entered the country’s financial system.
The German company also said it was withdrawing its financial results for 2019 and the first quarter of 2020.
Wirecard: Missing cash probably doesn’t exist
Shares in Wirecard (WCAGY) has lost more than 85% over three trading sessions — wiping out $12.5 billion in market value — since EY, its auditor refused to sign off the company’s accounts.
“The Management Board of Wirecard assesses on the basis of further examination that there is a prevailing likelihood that the bank trust account balances in the amount of 1.9 billion EUR do not exist,” the company said in a statement.
The missing money accounts for around a quarter of its total balance sheet.
Wirecard says missing $2 billion never existed. Its stock is down 85% in 3 days
Founded in 1999, Wirecard was once considered one of the most promising tech firms in Europe. It processes payments for consumers and businesses, and sells data analytics services. The company, which has nearly 6,000 employees in 26 countries around the world, reported revenues of over €2 billion ($2.2 billion) in 2018, or more than four times the figure from 2013.
Wirecard runs vital but little-noticed technology that connects online merchants, consumers and the banking system**. It has long attracted attention from hedge funds that have questioned its accounting, and some of those funds profited last week from Wirecard’s plunge.**