(Alliance News) - Network International Holdings PLC on Wednesday posted a healthy rise in revenue for the third quarter as top-line results neared those seen in pre-pandemic trading two years ago.
The Middle East and Africa-focused payment solutions provider reported strong trading in its United Arab Emirates merchant business, resulting in 19% group revenue growth in the third quarter of 2021. However, when compared to the third quarter of 2019, revenue was still down 1%.
The Dubai-headquartered firm said the UAE business traded strongly during the quarter and total direct processed volume fully recovered to 2019 levels.
"This is a reflection of our enhanced sales strategies, faster merchant onboarding and new capability launches; as well as improving underlying market dynamics. Consumer spending in the region has continued to improve, supported by the ongoing return of tourism and growing domestic consumer confidence," said Chief Executive Nandan Mer.
Elsewhere, Network International said its market entry to Saudi Arabia was on-track. The company noted it had made progress in the building of its technology platform and a pipeline of customer commitments, and it expects to launch services in early 2022.
Trading at its newly acquired payments business DPO Group continued to be strong with the Nairobi, Kenya-based subsidiary operating successfully as a standalone business.
"Our efforts are laying the foundations for future growth and we remain confident in our outlook," added Mer.
Shares were trading 0.7% lower in London on Wednesday morning at 364.80 pence each. The FTSE 250-lited company has a market capitalisation of around GBP2 billion.
By Will Paige; willpaige@alliancenews.com
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Network International (NETW)