Nexi outlines plan to tackle payments sector challenges as shares plunge
05/03/2026 09:42
MILAN, March 5 (Reuters) - Shares in Italy's Nexi NEXII.MI sank up to 20% to a new record low on Thursday after Europe's biggest payments group in terms of handled transactions outlined a three-year strategy to cope with mounting sector challenges. Analysts said the share reaction appeared overdone because the company's 2025 earnings were only slightly below expectations, as were mid-term forecasts. Advances in technology are disrupting the payments industry, allowing new entrants to move in and undercut the role of banks. Legacy payments firms like Nexi—which has focused on merchant payments and expanded by buying banks' payments divisions over the years—are particularly exposed. Nexi said its revenue and profit margin growth would accelerate again in 2028, as it pivots its business towards mid-sized companies to defend its market share. In the meantime, Milan-based Nexi said it would use cash distribution to reassure investors about the resilience of its business model and its ability to generate cash. "You don't have to believe we can go to the moon," CEO Paolo Bertoluzzo told investors in Milan. Revenues and profit margins are under pressure in the near term because Nexi offered discounts to some banks to secure the renewal of contracts and bore the hit from contracts lost years back, Bertoluzzo had earlier told a press briefing. Nexi expects to generate 2.4 billion euros in excess cash in 2026-2028 and return more than 1.1 billion euros to shareholders as dividends. (Reporting by Valentina Za in Milan and Romolo Tosiani in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak) ((valentina.za@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 6612 9526;))