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- German payments startup Wirecard said on Monday that around $2 billion in cash missing from its balance sheet likely does not exist.
- Wirecard’s shares plunged as much as 46%, and it withdrew its full-year-2019 and first-quarter-2020 results.
- Chief executive Markus Braun quit on Friday, capping a disastrous week for the scandal-hit firm.
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German fintech group Wirecard said on Monday that its missing cash balance of around 1.9 billion euros ($2 billion) likely does not exist.Â
Shares of the payments processor tumbled 46% in early trading, and were down 37% as of 6:50 a.m. ET.
Wirecard CEO Markus Braun resigned last Friday after the company said 1.9 billion euros of cash was missing from its balance sheet, a fact uncovered by auditors at EY.
At first, the company reportedly said the money was held in two Philippine banks, but the banks denied the money had ever entered their accounts. The governor of the country’s central bank said documents provided to EY appeared to be forged.Â
In a statement released on Monday, Wirecard’s board said the “prevailing likelihood” is that the cash does not exist.
It is holding “constructive discussions” with lenders about credit lines and future transactions, it said. The Munich-based company said it was considering “cost reductions, restructuring, disposal or termination of business units.”
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The scandal-hit company also withdrew an assessment of its full-year-2019 and first-quarter-2020 results.
On June 18, Wirecard said that if its financial results were not published by the next day, then around 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) worth of loans to the company could be terminated.Â
Braun’s abrupt resignation capped a torrid 48 hours for the company, during which its shares crashed 80%.
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