Aug 13 (Reuters) - Adyen, the Dutch firm that

handles payments for Spotify ( SPOT ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ), raised its annual

revenue growth forecast on Thursday as it continued to win more

customers and invest in its payments technology.

Adyen now expects net revenue to grow between 21% and 23% in

2026, compared with a previous range of 20% to 22%.

Half-year adjusted core earnings reached €641.5 million,

against analysts' estimate of €647.2 million, reflecting higher

costs from its recent acquisitions.

Adyen has continued to expand after the pandemic-driven

shift towards online shopping accelerated the adoption of

digital payments, competing with PayPal and Stripe in North

America. The company's success is rooted in its integrated

technology platform and a pricing model that can lower

merchants' payment costs as transaction volumes rise.

Net revenue in the six months to June grew 21% year-on-year

to €1.30 billion ($1.50 billion). Analysts polled by Visible

Alpha had expected net revenue growth of 20.69% on a

constant-currency basis to €1.29 billion.

($1 = 0.8678 euros)

(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro and Leo Marchandon;)