AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Adyen NV shares fell more than 20% on Thursday after the Dutch online payment company reported first-half profit below analysts’ expectations and its own targets.

On the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the action lost 21.60% to 1,154 euros at 8:13 GMT. Its French rival Worldline fell 3.20% in its wake.

Adyen, which provides payment services to many online platforms including Netflix, Meta, Microsoft and Spotify, attributes its results to slower growth in North America and continued hiring costs.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) for the first half amounted to 320 million euros, down 10% compared to the previous year. Analysts had expected 386 million euros, according to Refinitiv data.

Revenue increased by 21% to 739 million euros, while Adyen forecast growth of more than 25% in the medium term.

“In some areas, activity grew at a slower pace than expected,” company executives said in a letter to shareholders. “This is the case with our net sales in North America, which has played an increasingly important role in recent years.”

The company also cited competition in the United States, where it notably competes with PayPal.

Adyen’s Ebitda margin fell from 59% to 43%, which the company says is mainly due to increased labor costs due to the hiring of additional staff.

A similar margin decline led to a sell-off in Adyen shares when the company reported its annual results in February.

“We are confident in the long-term benefits of our accelerated team building and consciously accept its short-term impact,” the Dutch company said on Thursday.

Adyen maintained its mid-term targets of revenue growth above 25% and EBITDA margin improvement to 65% in the long term.

(Report Toby Sterling, Stéphanie Hamel, edited by Kate Entringer)

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