Payment and financial services provider Qiwi PLC, Russia-based Otkritie Financial Corp. Bank and digital banking service Tochka agreed to form a joint venture to further develop Tochka's business.
Tochka provides a range of services — including cash and settlement services, company registration assistance, accounting services, currency transactions — to small and medium businesses. The joint venture will establish an entity known as JSC Tochka that will serve as the technological partner and service provider for banks that belong to Tochka's multibank platform.
Qiwi Bank and Otkritie Bank currently belong to the platform, and the joint venture partners aim to add other banks to scale the business and expand the range of services offered.
Under the terms of the venture, Oktritie Bank will hold a 50% plus one stake, Qiwi will hold 40%, and Tochka management will have a 10% minus one share stake. Qiwi and Otkritie will each have a 45% economic interest in the venture, and 10% will be attributed to Tochka management. Qiwi and Otkritie each agreed to contribute assets including Tochka trademarks, software and hardware to the joint venture, in addition to cash financing.
JSC Tochka will continue to be led by current CEO Boris Dyakonov and the rest of its management team.
In light of the joint venture agreement, Qiwi said that it expects to recognize net revenues from Tochka operations until the end of the second quarter. Once the joint venture with Otkritie is established, Tochka business will be accounted for as an equity associate in its financial statements, and Qiwi's economic share of Tochka's total comprehensive income will be reflected in its statement of comprehensive income.
Qiwi maintained its previous adjusted net profit guidance, noting that it may reevaluate it once the joint venture is established. In March, Qiwi said it expected to report a 10% drop in adjusted net profit year over year due to expenses stemming from projects related to Tochka and Rocketbank.
Qiwi upgraded its total adjusted net revenue guidance, indicating that it expects total adjusted net revenue to increase 18% to 22% over 2017.
