Viseca posts positive result and breaks records with card portfolio

Despite ongoing Covid-19 measures, Viseca closed out the first half of 2021 with a profit. Economies of scale and rigorous cost management have contributed to the positive result. The card portfolio scaled record heights. Viseca is cautiously optimistic about the second half of the year.

Zurich, 27 August 2021 – Following the Covid-19 restrictions that dominated 2020, the first half of 2021 was all about the fight against the pandemic and the associated gradual opening-up of significant parts of public life. Viseca’s half-year results are correspondingly encouraging: The bottom line is that turnover remained stable in the first six months with only a minimal decline of 0.6 percent to CHF 189.0 million (2020: CHF 190.2 million). During the same period, consolidated earnings climbed to CHF 12.5 million (2020: CHF -11.8 million), significantly outperforming the previous year, not least due to rigorous cost management.

Equity amounted to CHF 566.9 million as of 30 June 2021, which corresponds to a very solid equity ratio of 51.1 percent. On 16 July 2021, Viseca also repaid the last outstanding bond in the amount of CHF 275 million, which means that it is not currently active on the capital market.

Expanding card portfolio and increasing transaction turnover

In recent months, the card portfolio has continued to grow, amounting to 2.58 million cards as of 30 June 2021, which equates to an increase of around 50 percent compared to the previous year. This strong growth is primarily due to the migration of the Manor myOne customer card to the Manor World Mastercard® card as well as to new business with new-generation debit cards. Viseca is benefiting from the economies of scale of these portfolios, though naturally they contribute less operating income per card than the traditional credit card business. Transaction turnover increased significantly in the first half of 2021, by no less than 24.9 percent to CHF 5,639 million (2020: CHF 4,516 million).
 

Mixed outlook for the second half of the year

The efforts of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) regarding the vaccination and the accompanying easing of Covid-19 measures to date give cause for cautious optimism. For the second half of 2021, Viseca therefore anticipates a further slight recovery of the economy despite the Delta variant. Overall, this should have a positive impact on the company’s full-year revenue.

The full online version of the 2021 half-year report is available at https://reports.viseca.ch/hyr21/de/