DR. MARKUS BRAUN CEO, CTO
TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS LETTER FROM THE CEO Letter from the CEO Dear ladies and gentlemen, Dear shareholders, Wirecard AG was able to report a successful 2014 fiscal year. Transaction volumes processed through the Wirecard platform grew by 28.5 percent to EUR 34.3 billion. Asia contributed EUR 7.4 billion, which represented a share of 21.6 percent of the total volume. Consolidated revenue grew 24.8 percent year on year to reach EUR 601 million. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 37.3 percent to EUR 172.9 million. Development in 2014 In the 2014 fiscal year, Wirecard Group exceeded its growth targets in its core e-commerce business. The key factors, alongside market growth, were the resulting increase in processing volumes from existing customers, our sales success with new customers, the strategic expansion and innovations in the area of mobile payment business and the associated value added services. Today, Wirecard is one of the world s leading technology companies for electronic payment transactions. Our solutions provide customers with the opportunity to reduce costs and add value by enabling them to outsource the growing complexity of payment processing to a service-provider. We offer retailers payment processing based on Internet technologies for all sales channels, whether online, mobile or point-of-sale (POS). 7
In 2014, Wirecard achieved further progress in the development of its core business for innovative payments, risk management and payment acceptance. In its area of payment acceptance solutions, the Company continuously expanded its existing solutions to include payment methods, local acquiring options and integration measures relating to retailer back-office automation. Our risk management solution, the Trust Evaluation Suite, combines intelligent risk management with payment processing and a record of the order and payment history between the retailer and their customers. In light of the increasing internationalisation of the market and the complexity of our business, cooperation partners form an important component of our success. For example, we have also been working for the last year with an American supplier of digital enterprise e-commerce solutions for retailers that specialise in the fashion industry. In the payment area, we are cooperation partners in the world's leading reservation system for the airline industry and travel sector. The issuing of standardised co-branded card products and prepaid voucher card products makes the Wirecard Group one of the leading card issuers in Europe. In the mobile payment business area, we are an active driver of product development with card products for Visa and MasterCard that are saved on mobile devices in digital form. In Asia, we were able to report a very encouraging performance in our operating business. A good example here is our Indonesian subsidiary PT Prima Vista Solusi, which has taken over responsibility for the payment infrastructure and the connections to financial institutions for the local public transport system in Jakarta, TransJakarta Busway. Services provided by the Wirecard Group already support contactless payment in local public transport systems in London, Singapore and Jakarta. 8
TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS LETTER FROM THE CEO Developments in the mobile payment business area In the past year, Near Field Communication (NFC) established itself as the standard for mobile payment at the POS. The projects that Wirecard has been implementing with leading telecommunication services in a variety of European countries since 2012 were gradually rolled out in Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and England as a soft launch in 2014. A gradual increase in marketing activities is expected this year because the prerequisites for mobile payments are being continuously improved. Cash terminals in the retail sector will be progressively upgraded for contactless payment in many European countries as Visa and MasterCard are increasing the pressure on network operators and retailers. Another impulse for the growth of NFC-based mobile payment transactions is the increasing availability of practical application scenarios for consumers. Customers using the Vodafone SmartPass have had the opportunity since September to make contactless payments with their smartphones for all modes of public transport offered by the British umbrella organisation Transport for London (TfL). At the same time, the Vodafone SmartPass allows passengers to pass through ticket barriers, which is a significant advantage for users. Numerous products whether mobile wallets, the mobile POS solution card reader or mobile payment applications are already deployed through our partners on various markets in Europe or Asia, for example in India and Vietnam. We are shaping the market with our innovations in the mobile payment business area as a key company for technology services and as a card-issuing financial institution. Host card emulation (HCE) technology is another development in the field of mobile payment based on NFC. Visa and MasterCard have certified the secure integration of HCE, with which transactions can be transferred via so-called tokens in a similar way to conventional EMV card transactions. HCE is thus hardware-independent and cheaper as a result. Therefore, this technology enables telecommunications companies, financial service providers, banks or even retailers to quickly access the mobile payment market on the basis of NFC. In this area, Wirecard can offer all of the components as a co-branded solution or in combination with its own brand boon, which we are launching on the market in the summer of 2015, as a partner project. NFC has, for the time being, established itself as the technological standard. All significant market participants from card companies through to retailers are following this path. 9
Geographic expansion We continued our geographical expansion with four acquisitions in 2014. 3pay, based in Istanbul, will enable us to roll out our core business on the Turkish market. As a result of the acquisition of Amara Technology in South Africa and its existing customer portfolio in the banking sector, we will also be able to address financial service providers in the neighbouring region with processing and mobile payment solutions. The GFG Group, based in New Zealand, not only has customers in the Asia-Pacific region but also globally with partly in Africa and in South America. The company has also developed an interesting mobile payment feature that we can offer in our growth markets in combination with existing technology. In the meantime, the transaction and cooperation agreement with Visa Processing Service in Singapore has also now been contractually concluded. As a result, we are strengthening our partnership with Visa and thus our cooperation with banks in the area of issuing processing. Outlook Our increasingly global orientation in the core e-commerce business will serve as the main basis for the dynamic development of the Wirecard Group over the next few years. Internet technologies are encroaching more and more into all areas of our lives. In terms of our business, it can be expected that this will push forward the convergence of POS and online business. We are keeping abreast of this development with our strategy of also rolling out products and services to end customers via leading distribution partners who have access to the B2C market. The Wirecard Group is also focusing on applications in the areas of mobile payment acceptance, mobile money transfer and the technological provision of loyalty and couponing programmes that are completely integrated into mobile payment processes. These value added services are an integral component for retailers when launching and managing campaigns and customer loyalty activities. Our technological expertise is being combined with various services to form a unique complete package from card and payment processing through card management to issuing licensing. 10
TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS LETTER FROM THE CEO We will globally expand our core business the processing of payments based on Internet technologies through our Multi-Channel Payment Gateway. According to our planning, it will also grow faster than the market in the current fiscal year. Despite strong organic growth, the Management Board remains committed to its strategy of increasing the presence of the Group in growth markets though acquisitions. Acquisitions outside of the Asia-Pacific region, such as in South America, are also of interest. The e-commerce market continues to offer considerable potential for growth. Wirecard AG s Management Board is optimistic about the business performance and expects operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of between EUR 210 million and EUR 230 million in the 2015 fiscal year. This growth forecast is based on the market growth of online transactions in Europe, the dynamic development of our business in the Asia-Pacific region and Africa, our activities in the area of mobile services, as well as by our ability to tap into new business areas. My colleagues on the Management Board and I would like to thank all of our employees! The now globally distributed team has once again managed to continue Wirecard s success story due to their tireless dedication and industriousness. We would also like to thank our customers, shareholders and partners for their loyalty, trust and excellent cooperation. To reflect our continued dynamic growth, we will propose to the Annual General Meeting the approval of a dividend of EUR 0.13 per share this year. Yours sincerely, Dr. Markus Braun CEO of Wirecard AG 11
BURKHARD LEY CFO
JAN MARSALEK COO
WULF MATTHIAS Chairman of the Supervisory Board