Wirecard's shares tumble 65% after the payments processor says it is unable to trace $2 billion worth of cash

• German fintech group Wirecard's shares dropped more than 65% after it announced on Thursday that it could not trace about $2 billion in its cash balances.
• Wirecard said "spurious cash balances" may have been provided by a third-party to its auditor EY.
• The payments group once again delayed its fourth-quarter and full year 2019 results, and told investors that in case a statement is not made available by June 19, loans of $2.3 billion to the company can be terminated.
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Wirecard, a German payments processor, said on Thursday that its auditors at EY could not confirm "sufficient audit evidence" of about 1.9 billion euros ($2 billion) in its cash balances, effectively saying that the money is missing.

Shares of the fintech group tumbled by over 65% in early trading after news of the lost cash. By 12.30 p.m. UK time (7.30 a.m. ET), they were trading around 53% lower.

Wirecard, which was listed on Germany's benchmark index DAX two years ago, said there were indications that a third-party had tried to "deceive" the auditor by creating a wrong perception of the existence of this amount.

The payments group, which holds contracts with American Express, Diners Club, AliPay, WeChat, Apple Pay, and China UnionPay said it was "working intensively together with the auditor towards a clarification of the situation."

Wirecard was scheduled to announce its fourth-quarter results on Thursday, but said the results would be delayed due to indications of false cash balances. A new date would be announced soon, it said.

While the company has not published its consolidated statement for the previous financial year, it said if this result was not released by June 19, then around 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) worth of loans to the company can be terminated.

Wirecard has postponed its 2019 results three times since March, and has regularly told investors it "expects an unqualified audit opinion."

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