LONDON (Alliance News) - Paysafe Group PLC on Wednesday posted a big drop in pretax profit due to costs related to the acquisition of Skrill, but revenue surged higher ahead of Paysafe's ascent to the FTSE 250.
The payments company said its pretax profit fell to USD11.8 million in the year to the end of December, from USD59.0 million a year earlier. The decline was due to costs related to the purchase of Skrill, which the group acquired through a reverse takeover in 2015 while still called Optimal Payments PLC.
The Skrill deal resulted in acquisition costs for the group of USD29.4 million, up from USD11.6 million a year earlier, while Paysafe also booked USD8.2 million in restructuring costs related to the deal. The group did not declare a dividend for the year.
Revenue, however, grew substantially in the year, up to USD613.4 million from USD365.0 million, mostly as a result of the inclusion of the Skrill business. However, Paysafe said revenue grew across all divisions even without the Skrill deal.
Paysafe added the strong sales momentum in 2015, which meant its results came in slightly ahead of its expectations, has continued in the early months of 2016.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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