A new audit by KPMG shows that Wirecard’s core business in both Europe and the Americas was losing money for years; earlier audits by EY said the company generated operating margins of around 22 per cent and almost doubled annual earnings before interest and taxes to €439mn; such profits appear to have existed largely on paper, according to data in the confidential appendix of a special audit conducted by KPMG and seen by the Financial Times; the company appears to have invented profits from outsourced activities in Asia but it did not even own a license to operate; according to the FT Germany’s finance minister Olaf Scholz on Sunday that he thought “we have so far only seen the tip of the iceberg” with regard to the Wirecard scandal. “There is probably more to come.” Financial Times.
