Digital payment solutions provider Paysafe Group Plc (LSE:PAYS) has reported strong growth in the six months ended June 30, 2016.
Reported H1 2016 revenue increased 118% to $487m (H1 2015: $223m); pro-forma constant currency revenue growth was 20%, up from 14% growth in H2 2015 and 12% in H1 2015.
· Adjusted H1 2016 EBITDA increased 189% to $144m (H1 2015: $50m), reflecting the acquisition of Skrill and increasing profitability.
· Adjusted H1 2016 EBITDA margin was 29.6% (H1 2015: 22.4%).
· The Group generated $79m free cash flow before payments working capital in H1 20165 (H1 2015: $34m).
· The integration of Skrill is complete. Over FY 2016, the Group expects to recognise in excess of the $40m synergies envisaged at the time of the transaction.
· Group net debt to last twelve month pro-forma EBITDA ratio decreased to 1.5x from more than 3x at the time the Group announced its debt fund raise and acquisition of Skrill in March 2015.
Operational highlights
· New partner collaborations, payment product enhancements and markets entered during H1 2016 across Payment Processing, Digital Wallets and Prepaid.
· Headcount increased to 1,828 employees at the end of H1 2016 from 1,578 at the start of the year, reflecting the enlarged revenue-generating lines of the Group and ongoing targeted investment in compliance and risk management.
· MeritCard, the Dallas-based merchant acquiring business, was acquired on 16 February 2016, integrated into the Group’s payment processing division and continues to operate with its MeritCard brand. Paysafe continues to assess further acquisition opportunities in the payments sector.
· Development of a next-generation global data platform to deliver enhanced real-time insights and analytics and a global merchant onboarding capability have commenced earlier than previously anticipated following the integration of Skrill into the Group ahead of schedule.
· Leveraging the Group’s FANS Entertainment technology, the soft launch of a new white-label mobile ordering technology for major merchants and companies and a new branded mobile ordering platform for small to medium-sized enterprises is scheduled for the second half of the year.
Joel Leonoff, Paysafe
Paysafe President and Chief Executive Officer Joel Leonoff said:
I am delighted with the Group’s first half results. We have again delivered very strong growth as our increasingly diversified payments business expands further across pay-before, pay-now and pay-later products and services.
I am particularly pleased with the level of cash generated during the first half. Additionally, by completing the integration of Skrill more rapidly than we initially expected, we have been able to start work on developing our next-generation data platform and global merchant onboarding capabilities earlier than anticipated.”
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