The next focusIR Investor Webinar takes places on 14th May with guest speakers from Blue Whale Growth Fund, Taseko Mines, Kavango Resources and CQS Natural Resources fund. Please register here.
What are people's views on the practicality of Limiting drug pricing. My feeling is that Hillary's comments are ill-considered. Simply, biotech is a risky, costly business with a limited patent protected time window. The price opportunity is the reward for the risk and to limit this could result in a slowing of drug development. This would be harmful and an implication politicians would need to think through very carefully. It's amazing what an apparent opportunistic comment from a political candidate can do!
LONDON, MONTREAL and NEW YORK (March 28, 2014) – Optimal Payments Plc (LSE AIM: OPAY), a leading global online payments and risk management provider, is pleased to announce that its President and CEO, Joel Leonoff, was named CEO of the year at the UK Stock Market Awards 2014 last night, March 27, 2014. The UK Stock Market Awards, run by MSM Media Group owner of Shares Magazine, rewards companies and individuals that are judged to have contributed the most to creating shareholder value. Under Joel’s tenure, the company has outperformed many of its peers as well as the FTSE All-Share Index. The share price has risen by 150% in the past year alone, creating a company with a market capitalisation of over $1 billion as of March 2014. Joel Leonoff said: “I am honoured to receive this award which recognises that Optimal Payments has been successful in producing an exceptional performance in 2013 with strong growth revenue and profits, at the same time as delivering real and sustainable value for shareholders. “This could not have been achieved without the dedication of our management team and employees worldwide. This is an accolade for the Optimal family, well done, I graciously accept this award on behalf of everyone at Optimal who made this possible and look forward to our continued success in the future.” About Optimal Payments PLC Optimal Payments is a global provider of online payment solutions, trusted by businesses and consumers in over 200 countries and territories to move and manage billions of dollars each year. Merchants use the NETBANX® platform and services to simplify how they accept credit and debit card, direct-from-bank, and alternative and local payments; and the NETELLER® service to increase revenues and capture new customers. Consumers use the multilingual and multicurrency NETELLER and Net+® Card stored-value offering to make secure and convenient payments. Optimal Payments Plc is quoted on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM, with a ticker symbol of OPAY. Subsidiary company Optimal Payments Ltd is authorised and regulated as an e-money issuer by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 900015). For more information on Optimal Payments visit www.optimalpayments.com or subscribe at http://www.optimalpayments.com/media/email-alerts.
These are sensational results. Ebitda is even 8 million ahead of earlier notice. Our net profit is 31.5 mill usd x 0.6= 18.9gbp / mcap 652 mill Gbp= Pe circa 35. On the face of it high, but with terrific revenue, ebitda and net profit growth. Also our niche in US on line gambling is just taking off. Very pleased to be here.
Exceptional full year performance: EBITDA(1) up 89% to $52.2m (2012: $27.6m); Revenues up 41% to $253.4m (2012: $179.1m); Net Profit after tax $31.5m (2012: $1.2m). Significant turnaround in NETELLER Stored Value (“SV”) business: Revenues up 54% to $59.8m (2012: $38.8m) as initiatives started in 2012 continue to deliver benefits. Strong organic growth from NETBANX Straight Through Processing (“STP”) business: Revenues up 39% to $193.0m (2012: $138.9m) with continued strong growth in Asia. Balance sheet strengthened at year end: Group cash (net of merchant cash) of $93.8m (31 December 2012: $57.9m). Free cash of approximately $38.0m(4) (31 December 2012: $15.0m); Group loans reduced to $9.5m at year end 31 December 2013 (31 December 2012: $25.8m) and subsequently cleared as of 28 January 2014. Group now materially debt free (3). Strategic initiatives progressing well: Principal Membership with Visa Europe and MasterCard Europe granted enabling Optimal Payments to offer acquiring services to merchants in the European Union from the second half of 2014 and to benefit from competitive rates and increased market opportunity; New NETELLER and Net+ products launched in the US in March 2014 and US office opened. More US states including California, New York and Pennsylvania considering licensing online gaming following recent New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada regulation and rollout. Revenue impact depends upon the timing of the opening of individual states; Continued focus on identifying possible M&A candidates. Significant investment in people and technology planned in 2014 in delivering on our strategic objectives including payments services for regulated US online gaming, payment acquiring, mobile payment technologies and card issuing. Excellent start to new financial year – strong current trading and sales pipeline underpin prospects for further growth in 2014. http://www.optimalpayments.com/news/press-releases/audited-results-year-ended-31-december-2013
LONDON, MONTREAL and NEW YORK (March 25, 2014) – Optimal Payments Plc (LSE AIM: OPAY), a leading global online payment solutions provider, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a partnership with the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in New Jersey to provide its new NETELLER® service to customers of BorgataCasino.com, BorgataPoker.com and nj.partypoker.com. http://www.optimalpayments.com/news/press-releases/optimal-payments-and-borgata-hotel-casino-spa-announce-partnership
Just wanted to post a quick thank you to Melody for your thoughts. Am busy at the mo but will try in next few days to form and present my own opinions. A poster on iii posted an opinion by some punter coming to similar conclusion FWIW.
http://m.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/mobile/news/detail.html?announcementId=11899853 Lot of information to digest here. Can anyone financially minded estimate a break even level of sales. At a rate increasing 6 to 7 times per annum and launching into a market 10 times the size this looks really exciting.
http://m.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/mobile/news/detail.html?announcementId=11899878 Somehow the placing doesn't hurt as much when they give so much information when they do it. The open offer is also a gesture that softens the blow. This is a benchmark in style for the rest of the placings that happen hereabouts.
So says Caesars’ VP of Corporate Communications, Seth Palansky http://www.4flush.com/online-poker-news/new-jersey-online-poker-sites-offering-neteller-cashier-option/16545
......online poker players are still experiencing payment problems because of a policy by big banks not to allow the transfer of funds using credit cards. Institutions such as American Express, Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase have all publicly declared that – legal or not – they will not be honoring transactions to or from online gambling sites..... http://www.compatiblepoker.com/poker-rumors/credit-card-hassles-for-us-online-poker-players/8385
Investing.com notes that “since online gambling was launched in all three states in 2013, customers have experienced difficulty in using credit cards to load up their accounts, partly because some card schemes have a policy of not processing gambling transactions, and partly because some card processors have not yet updated their systems to reflect the legal status of online gambling in certain states. Using an eWallet, customers can load up their accounts using their preferred payment mechanism and then use the wallet across multiple websites.” As such, Neteller will be filling a niche in the market, offering players a payment option that works well and has an excellent industry reputation, since the Neteller e-wallet service is used in over 190 countries around the world. http://www.compatiblepoker.com/poker-rumors/online-payment-method-neteller-to-relaunch-in-us-gambling-market/8583
I have no predictions on how this could go. However, I regard it as a picks and shovels play on internet commerce i.e. in the gold rushes the miners would have varying degrees of success and failure, but the guys that sold the equipment did really well ( or so I have heard). There is therefore enormous upside. It also has the benefit of a very interesting niche- On-line gambling.
Sssssshhhh ........
At least your risk is spread across the sector. And I like it as people are always getting sick so it should be insulated somewhat from general market movements.
A well researched post. I will certainly be looking out for your posts in future. Rec'd.
Yes Dibs it's very exciting. Have a nagging wish I'd traded it but hindsight is a great thing. I'm just sitting tight for a relatively stress free time.
Good points on the German connections.
1, 2, now 300
Do you have a theory, Dibs? Reminders though for casual observers 1. This business more than doubling every 6 months. 2. Director's have substantial shareholdings and continue to increase them. 3. The integrations continue to increase and are moving beyond the initial core area of CRM. 4. We have recently expanded into the USA ....