ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss stock exchange operator SIX said on Thursday it expects a 2025 net loss of about 300 million Swiss francs ($378.26 million), citing an impairment of roughly 550 million francs
SIX Expects Significant Losses Due to Worldline Stake Impairment
Impact of Worldline on SIX's Financial Performance
ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss stock exchange operator SIX said on Thursday it expects a 2025 net loss of about 300 million Swiss francs ($378.26 million), citing an impairment of roughly 550 million francs on its 10.5% stake in French payments group Worldline.
Background on Worldline's Market Challenges
SIX, owned by around 120 financial institutions, said the charge reflects mainly the goodwill impairment Worldline announced with its half-year 2025 results on Thursday.
SIX's Response to Impairment Charges
The expected write-down marks the third year in a row that SIX has suffered impairment charges related to its Worldline investment.
Future Outlook and Dividend Plans
SIX suffered a 167.7 million franc impairment tied to Worldline in 2024, while the Swiss company reported a total net loss of 1.0 billion francs in 2023 partly driven by a slump in Worldline's shares.
Worldline, spun off from IT group Atos in 2014, has seen its market value collapse about 97% from a peak above 20 billion euros in 2021 after suffering customer churn, repeated profit warnings, leadership instability and softer consumer spending.
A criminal probe into suspected money-laundering at its Belgian unit further hurt sentiment.
Worldline now plans to raise 500 million euros ($583.10 million) in new equity to fund a turnaround and restore investor confidence; its shares fell 6% in early Paris trade.
SIX said it supports Worldline's restructuring but will not participate in the capital increase and accepts dilution of its 10.5% stake.
Following the expected dilution and reduced influence after its representative Giulia Fitzpatrick leaves Worldline's board, SIX will reclassify the holding as a financial investment.
It still aims to pay a stable 2025 dividend compared to the 5.30 francs per share paid out for 2024 and said its capital position remains solid.
($1 = 0.7931 Swiss francs)
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Oliver Hirt, Gianluca Lo Nostro and John RevillEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
