Afterpay shares rise nearly 10% to record after hiking core profit view

[BENGALURU] Shares of Australia's Afterpay surged to a record high on Thursday after the buy-now-pay-later firm raised its annual core earnings forecast and said Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group had taken a roughly 5 per cent stake in it.

Afterpay shares, which have scaled multiple life highs in recent months as online transactions swelled during the coronavirus pandemic, jumped as much as 9.5 per cent to a record A$82.

The company forecast full-year EBITDA of A$44 million (S$43.23 million) after markets closed on Wednesday, up from its prior guidance of A$20 million to A$25 million, as it expects losses on customer transactions to be lower than feared.

REUTERS