LONDON (Alliance News) - Payments company eServGlobal Ltd Monday said it swung to a first-half pretax profit on the back of a gain from the creation of its HomeSend SRCL joint venture with MasterCard Inc and Belgacom's BICS, as well an increase in revenue due new customer wins.
In a statement, eServGlobal, whose core business focuses on mobile payments in emerging markets, said it made a AUD33.8 million pretax profit in the six months ended April 30, compared with a AUD2.1 million pretax loss in the corresponding period a year earlier. Revenue increased to AUD16.9 million from AUD13.6 million, while expenses for research and development, sales and marketing, and administration rose to AUD11.2 million from AUD9.8 million. Foreign exchange gains were up to AUD1.4 million from AUD1.1 million.
But the single largest item in the company's profit or loss statement was the AUD33.9 million gain arising from the creation of the HomeSend joint venture, which is tasked with enabling cross-border remittances and domestic transfers between individuals' mobile money accounts, payment cards, bank accounts or cash outlets from anywhere in the world. MasterCard will have a majority share of the joint venture while eServGlobal will hold 35%.
Meanwhile, eServGlobal said that it has appointed Duncan Lewis as its permanent non-executive chairman. He replaces Steve Baldwin, who had been acting in the role after Richard Mathews quit in March due to his increased workload as chief executive and managing director of RungePincockMinarco, a mining services company traded on the Australian Securities Exchange.
Lewis has held senior roles at BT PLC, Cable and Wireless Communications PLC, and is currently an independent director of Spirent Communications PLC. He has also served as a senior adviser to Carlyle Group, the US asset manager known for its private equity arm.
eServGlobal shares were Monday quoted at 42.00 pence, down 2.9%.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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Spirent (SPT)