Bango Regulatory News (BGO)

19 September 2017

BANGO PLC

("Bango")

Interim Results

Bango (AIM: BGO), the mobile payments company, today announces its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2017.

1h2017 Financial highlights

· 1h2017 End User Spend (EUS) increased 100% YoY to £92.31m (1h2016: £46.17m)

o Annualized EUS exiting August 2017 was over £400m, at least 140% more than the rate entering September 2016 (£167m)

· Revenue from EUS increased 114% YoY to £1.65m (1h2016: £0.77m)

· Improved Adjusted LBITDA* -£1.01m (1h2016: -£1.64m)

· Operating costs stable at £2.72m (1h2016: £2.49m) in-line with forecast

· Cash of £5.6m on 30 June 2017 (30 June 2016: £7.2m; 31 Dec 2016: £5.7m), sufficient to fund the Group through to profitability

* Adjusted LBITDA is Operating Loss before depreciation, amortization and share based payments.

1h2017 Operational highlights

· DCB for Amazon in Japan: Launched Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) for Amazon in Japan. Customers on the NTT Docomo and KDDI networks can pay for the full range of physical goods from amazon.co.jp, charging the cost to their mobile phone bill. The scale of this launch is unprecedented, enabling DCB for physical good sales in Amazon's third largest market

· New billing routes: Activated more Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) routes in Indonesia, Italy, Austria, Denmark, UK, Hong Kong, Japan, Verizon in the US, the biggest MNO to launch with Windows Store and more. Migrated two further Google Play billing routes from legacy providers to the Bango Platform in Kuwait and Bahrain

· Platform capacity: Tested the transaction throughput of the Bango Platform to volumes over £5Bn per year on the existing infrastructure, as well as the ability to handle large spikes in transaction volumes, in readiness for the expected growth in EUS

Delivering on the platform strategy

· Develop vital technology: Evolved 5th generation platform technology to enable DCB for physical goods, new capabilities include multiple item checkout, delayed invoicing, part shipments, partial payments, refunds and chargeback processing

· Win leaders to the Bango Platform: First Amazon DCB route launched through Bango in Japan, demonstrating that Bango remains the standard platform chosen by leading global stores to deliver innovative mobile payment solutions. The Bango strategy is to focus on the global leaders that have the ability to reach tens of millions of consumers with the Bango Platform, enabling improved user experiences and more efficient marketing for all Bango customers

· Build momentum and deliver value: Migration of established Google Play payment routes to the Bango Platform to stimulate growth. Initial uplift in user spend of 35% experienced immediately, with over 25% increase in unique users. Award-winning Bango Boost post-launch technology is applied to all routes to stimulate further EUS growth

· Add new capabilities and products: Bango Boost v2 launched, to provide major developers including Niantic, Supercell and King with unique insights into consumer behavior. Bango Boost enables more efficient marketing, boosts EUS growth and improves customer experience

Ray Anderson, Chief Executive Officer at Bango, commented:

"With a unique, powerful technology platform and winning strategy to power the world's leading online stores, Bango continues to gain rapid momentum. The largest internet businesses are expanding their use of the Bango Platform to reach new customers and increase the return on their marketing investments.

Adding to the substantial growth achieved by expanding the reach of Google Play and Microsoft Windows Store, in June 2017 Bango technology enabled Amazon to start using carrier billing to collect payments from consumers buying physical goods in Japan.

New capabilities and unique innovations added to the Bango Platform over the last few years are now starting to be used to open similar opportunities worldwide. Bango continues to invest in the development of its platform to embrace additional routes and markets and attract further innovation on the Bango Platform.

Merchant partners benefit from fast growth in existing billing routes, and new payment routes added through the year. New customers with ambitious growth plans are also coming to the Bango Platform as a result of business development activity - especially in the USA and Japan. Bango therefore remains confident of achieving at least 100% year-on-year growth in End User Spend for the third consecutive year."

This announcement contains inside information as defined in EU Regulation No. 596/2014 and is in accordance with the Bango obligations under Article 17 of that Regulation.

Contact Details:

About Bango

Bango is the standard platform chosen by leading global stores to deliver mobile payments to everyone. As the next billion consumers adopt their first smartphone and look for universal payment methods, Bango will be there to unlock the world of apps, video, music, games and other content that brings those smartphones to life. Global stores plugging into the Bango Platform include Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Samsung (005930: Korea SE) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). Bango also partners with leading payment providers around the world to drive new users and revenues through its industry-leading mobile payment solutions. For more information, visit www.bango.com.

CEO's statement

By combining quick and easy payment collection with unique data insights that boost marketing performance, the Bango Platform is the market leader for global app store payments. In June 2017, Bango broke new ground by enabling carrier billing to be used to purchase high value physical goods in Japan, one of the most advanced online economies.

The launch for Amazon, working with Docomo and KDDI, reaches over 75% of Japanese users through their Android and iPhone devices. It marks another major milestone for Bango technology, massively expanding payment choice and convenience for customers. Although still in its early stages, this is potentially the most significant application of carrier billing in the history of this alternative payment method. Bango is developing relationships with other physical goods retailers to follow this successful launch.

Japan is a mobile-centric internet culture with billions of dollars of online purchases transacting on Japanese mobile phones each year. Through the Bango Platform, online retailers anywhere in the world are now able to offer their Japanese customers the convenience of payment to their mobile phones. Online retailers in Japan are particularly keen to upgrade their legacy "cash-on-delivery" customers to more efficient online payment methods, like carrier billing.

In parallel with opening-up payments for physical goods using the Bango Platform, the expansion of digital services continues, with many new mobile operators integrating to the Bango Platform, which increases the billing reach for Google, Samsung and Microsoft stores.

In January 2017, Bango presented its strategy for enabling the information gathered by the Bango Platform to be used to improve marketing and user experience for Bango customers. This strategy was supported by the launch of Bango Boost v2 in February 2017, which enables leading merchants such as Niantic, Supercell and King to gain unique insights to help them optimize their marketing investments. This new way of monetizing the value of the Bango Platform presents new opportunities for Bango as End User Spend continues to grow rapidly.

Market developments

Bango continues to benefit from long-term partnerships with the world's leading internet companies. Mobile Network Operators and other billing providers are keen to benefit from the growing appetite for content and services, and respond to the major players who are pushing for wider availability of DCB. The Bango footprint continues to expand and partners have achieved milestones in their reach: Google announced at their IO conference that 900 Million Android phones worldwide are now capable of using DCB to pay for content and services in Google Play (Google I/O 2017) and Microsoft reported that Windows 10 is now running on 500 million active devices worldwide (Microsoft Build conference 2017).

The mobile market saw significant growth in usage, downloads and revenue. Bango is now positioned at the centre of this market growth, providing unique technology that enables the leaders to consolidate around a common platform for mobile payments. Bango has created a true commerce platform by adding value with every interaction, which speeds deployment, lowers costs and enables improved marketing efficiencies and better user experiences.

Proof that Bango provides more value than payment processing is provided when mobile operators switch their existing integrations over to the Bango Platform. In the first half of 2017 two operators in the Middle East decided to switch their Google Play routes to the Bango Platform from third party providers to stimulate growth. Their Android business is now benefiting from the tools and data that Bango uniquely provides. Initial uplift in user spend of 35% was gained immediately, with over 25% increase in unique users. Bango Boost v2 will in turn enable app developers to strengthen their business with these two operators by using the benchmarking and data insights that only Bango can provide.

Product development

Product development is focused in three key areas: improving performance and reliability, adding new platform capabilities for existing customers and extracting more value for customers from the data collected by the Bango Platform as it processes transactions.

Software engineering work continues to speed up transaction processing, and improve reliability and resilience through innovations in the use of database and API technology. This work enabled Bango datacenters to process transactions at a sustained rate of over £5Bn/yr during stress testing prior to the launch of physical goods capabilities in Japan.

New platform capabilities added during 2015 and 2016 to handle the sophistication of physical goods delivery - where payment might be collected when the goods are shipped - were extensively tested during the first half of 2017 and new APIs published to merchants to support these capabilities.

Additional capabilities were added to the Bango Platform during the first half to enable expansion of payment capabilities into the Internet of Things (IoT). As presented in the Bango Strategy update in January 2017, Bango technology extends beyond smartphones and other consumer devices, by enabling transactions between smart devices, buildings, security and transportation systems.

In the big data and analytics space, Bango released Bango Boost v2. Five of the top 10 Google Play developers have been provided access to valuable data through a new variant of the Bango Dashboard. Bango expects this data will be valuable to these and many other developers, but the benefits to mobile operators who use Bango data to deliver efficient and collaborative marketing programs are potentially profound. This could drive mobile operators to migrate their legacy connections to the Bango Platform more quickly.

Bango continues to invest in the next generation of platform capabilities, following the lead of the world's biggest stores who repeatedly chose Bango to partner with to monetize new products and add new customers.

Sales and Marketing

In early 2016 Bango announced that it had established Bango KK, led by an experienced Japanese executive to steer Bango activity in Japan. Following the mid-2017 launch of DCB for Amazon Japan, Bango plans to increase its activity in Japan and build Bango capabilities in adjacent countries with similar mobile-centric consumer cultures.

Bango identified Latin America (LATAM) as a key opportunity in late 2016, and has expanded its presence in the region with local employees in Sao Paolo, Brazil and recently in Bogota, Colombia. There is a significant transition away from first generation mobile content to app stores and digital merchants, and with comparatively low credit card usage, the region presents a major opportunity for Bango and our global partners to open-up online payments.

The Sales and Marketing team at Bango is developing relationships with several new global merchants and expects to drive significant new revenue streams from these new customers, using the same established technology and capabilities of the Bango Platform.

Outlook

Bango has executed very well in the first half, delivering against its strategy. Bango added new customers and partnerships to its powerful network. Product innovation expanded to include payments for physical goods and new capabilities that can support IoT payments, Bango is delighted that trials of its technology are already underway and announcements in the IoT space are expected in the coming months.

With the strengthening of the capacity and reliability of the Bango Platform, Bango is comfortable that it can handle the substantial increase in End User Spend that is anticipated in the coming year.

As a result, Bango expects EUS growth to increase in the second half and with further substantial growth in the years to come.

Considerable increases in revenue and a stable cost base have led to a healthy cash balance that management continues to expect will see Bango through to profitability.

Ray Anderson

Chief Executive Officer

CFO's statement

Bango business model

Bango earns revenue from every transaction processed through the Bango Platform. Revenue is calculated either as a percentage of the sale value or as a fixed fee per transaction. Each additional sale adds to the End User Spend (EUS) of the business and this leads to increased revenue.

End User Spend

EUS is the total sales processed through the Bango Platform excluding taxes. EUS shows the growth of business through the Bango Platform, and remains the most significant Key Performance Indicator that management uses to measure the development of the business and the continued success of Bango customers and partners.

EUS for 1h2017 was £92.31m, up 100% from 1h2016 (£46.17m) due to growth from existing activations and additional EUS from new activations in 2017. During 1h2017, as part of streamlining acquired BilltoMobile routes, those with low growth potential or continued strategic value were deactivated. The Bango strategy remains to focus on the global leaders who have the ability to scale at low cost to Bango and bring noticeable EUS and revenue to Bango in 2018 and beyond.

At the end of June 2017, the EUS run rate was over £300m/yr (1h2016: £159m/yr). Exiting August 2017 it had grown to over £400m/yr. Growth in annualized EUS came from all of the major stores integrated to the Bango Platform. Bango is on track to generate monthly revenue from EUS fees in excess of costs - generating a monthly operating profit at the end of 2017.

Revenue

Bango has two revenue streams, which it reports separately. Firstly, revenue from transaction fees from EUS, secondly, revenue from platform fees paid by stores for new payment route activations.

Revenue from EUS increased to £1.65m from £0.77m in 1h2016, an increase of 114%, reflecting the doubling of EUS from 1h2016. The significant EUS growth is reflected in the continued increase in revenue.

Revenue from platform fees are one time fees charged to MNOs or stores for integrations or customized development work. The platform fees in 1h2017 were £0.06m, consistent with £0.08m in 1h2016. Platform fees are additional sources of revenue but longer term plans are based on the operational costs of Bango being covered by the revenue from the EUS.

EUS revenue expressed as a % of EUS was 1.79% (1h2016: 1.67%). Bango expects that total EUS revenue expressed as a % of EUS for FY2017 will be in-line with market forecasts going forward.

Costs

The cost base of £2.72m for the first half of 2017 (1h2016: £2.49m) remains in-line with forecasts. Bango expects to exit the year with little or no rise in operational costs, in-line with market expectations. Cost savings from operational efficiencies achieved in 1h2017 have been redeployed into growing Bango's presence in LATAM and increased sales and marketing activity in Asia. Bango continues to invest in market opportunities and product innovation.

The Bango Platform has been tested to a capacity in excess of £5bn of EUS per year, consistent with prior year developments. This ensures sufficient platform capacity to handle sudden surges in EUS and the ambitions of Bango's partners. The ability of the platform to handle large spikes in transaction volume is of particular importance following the launch of payment capabilities for physical goods. The scalability of the Bango Platform has been achieved as a result of investment in technological innovations as part of continued commitment to new Research and Development (R&D) projects. In-line with the Bango strategy to ensure the platform is highly scalable, Bango continues to invest in new R&D projects so the Bango Platform can support new market opportunities identified by key customers.

LBITDA, adjusted to account for share based payments for the period ended 30 June 2017, has shown significant improvements with a reduction of nearly 40% to -£1.01m (1h2016: -£1.64m) as a result of growing revenue from EUS on a stable cost base.

Depreciation and amortization for 1h2017 decreased to £0.69m (1h2016: £0.81m) due to a number of assets becoming fully depreciated in the period. Share based payment charge increased during 1h2017 to £0.33m (1h2016: £0.22m) as a result of increases to the Bango share price. The share based payment charge relates to the Bango share option program which enables all Bango employees to share in the future value of Bango, which is a vital recruitment and retention tool in a highly competitive employment market.

Loss and Loss per share

The loss after tax was -£1.75m (1h2016: -£2.66m) an improvement driven by the £0.86m increase in revenue compared to 1h2016.

Loss per share decreased to 2.67p (1h2016: 4.12p).

Cash

Cash balances remained stable at £5.6m on 30 June 2017 with the 31 December 2016 value of £5.7m (£7.24m on 30 June 2016).

The stability of the Bango cash position was a result of improvements to the operating cash flow of £0.2m (1h2016: -£1.75m) in the half year, the receipt of £0.4m from HMRC for R&D tax credits and £0.5m from the exercise of share options. This strong cash position reaffirms the management expectations that Bango has sufficient cash to fund it through to net profitability, while continuing to invest in R&D.

Rachel Elias-Jones

Chief Financial Officer

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

for the six months ended 30 June 2017

All of the activities of the group are classified as continuing.

Notes 1 to 9 are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.

 Consolidated statement of financial position

for the six months ended 30 June 2017

Notes 1 to 9 are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.

Consolidated cash flow Statement

for the six months ended 30 June 2017

Notes 1 to 9 are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.Consolidated statement of changes in equity

for the six months ended 30 June 2017

Notes 1 to 9 are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.

Bango PLC ("Bango"), a United Kingdom resident, and its subsidiaries (together "the Group") provide services to facilitate activity on the mobile internet. Bango shares are AIM listed on the London Stock Exchange. The address of Bango's registered office and principal place of business is 5, Westbrook Centre, Cambridge CB4 1YG.

The interim financial statements have been approved for issue by the Board of Directors on 19 September 2017.

The condensed interim financial information for the half year ended 30 June 2017 has been prepared using the recognition and measurement principles of International Accounting Standards, International Financial Reporting Standards and Interpretations adopted for use in the European Union (collectively EU IFRS). They do not include all of the information required in the annual financial statements in accordance with IFRS, and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements of the Group for the year ended 31 December 2016.

The consolidated interim financial information has been prepared under the historical cost convention.

The cash flow forecasts of Bango anticipate increased cash generation from trading operations, therefore the Directors have a reasonable expectation that there are adequate resources to continue its operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.

The principal accounting policies adopted are consistent with those of the annual financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2016.

The accounting policies have been applied consistently throughout the Group for the purposes of preparation of these condensed consolidated interim financial statements. 

(a) End User Spend

Bango has identified End User Spend a non IFRS alternative performance measure as its Key Performance Indicator on which all management decisions surrounding investment in the platform and development of intangible assets is based. Key business decisions are based on the total value and volume of transactions that Bango has processed in each month through its payment platform. End User Spend is the total value of a sale net of VAT or other sales taxes and converted using the exchange rate at the point of the sale.

(b) Revenue and gross profit

Bango, based on the information reviewed by the management team, has identified two operating segments. Management reporting is based on the gross profit generated from each segment. The segments are not separately managed and therefore Bango's headquarters and its research and development activity are considered Group operations and are not allocated to any operating segment. Segment information can be analyzed as follows for the reporting periods under review.

End User Spend revenue is the Bango revenue share for processing transactions through the Bango Platform. Bango earns revenue calculated either as a percentage of the net of tax figure or as a fixed value per transaction. Assets for this segment are amounts due from payment providers. Liabilities for this segment are mainly fees payable to payment providers for provision of services and fees payable to merchants for provision of content sold by Bango to end users.

Platform fees are the amounts paid to Bango by merchants for providing services or for operator activations. Assets for this segment are amounts due to Bango for providing these services. Liabilities for this segment represent deferred income for prepaid fees. Group assets include non-current assets and cash and cash equivalents. Group liabilities relate to administrative expenses.

c) The Group's revenue from external customers is divided into the following geographical areas:

Revenue is reported based on the location of the customers. All non-current assets are based in the UK.

Basic loss per share is calculated by dividing the loss attributable to equity holders of Bango PLC by the weighted average of ordinary shares in issue during the period.

At 30 June 2017 options over 4,086,922 (30 June 2016: 4,027,604) ordinary shares were outstanding. Given the loss for the year, these options are considered to be anti-dilutive. Such options could potentially dilute basic loss per share in the future.

During the period 625,008 share options over 625,008 ordinary shares were exercised at exercise prices ranging between 88.0p pence and 176.0 pence with a par value of 20 pence. The total proceeds were £494,449 of which £125,001 was recognized as share capital and £369,448 as share premium.

During the period 614,500 options were granted to employees, of which includes; 50,000 to Rachel Elias-Jones, 50,000 to Ray Anderson and 50,000 to Anil Malhotra, all Directors. Grants to employees who left in the period resulted in lapses of 234,345 options in the six months to June 2017.

At the end of the six month period ended 4,086,922 (30 June 2016: 4,080,571) share options were outstanding.

The condensed consolidated interim financial information was approved by The Board of Directors on 19th September 2017. They are unaudited but have been reviewed by the auditors and their report is included within this note.

The financial information set out in this interim report does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in section 435 of the Companies Act 2006. The figures for the period ended 31 December 2016 have been extracted from the Statutory Financial Statements of Bango PLC, which have been filed with the Registrar of Companies. The auditor's report on those financial statements is unqualified and did not contain a statement under section 498(2) or 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006. The interim financial information for the six months to 30 June 2017 is unaudited. The interim report together with an analyst briefing presentation will be distributed to all shareholders shortly and will be available on the Bango investor site at www.bangoinvestor.com.

Independent review report to Bango PLC

Introduction

We have been engaged by Bango PLC to review the financial information in the half-yearly financial report for the six months ended 30 June 2017 which comprises the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Balance Sheet, Consolidated Cash Flow Statement, Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity and the related notes (1 to 9). We have read the other information contained in the half yearly financial report which comprises only the financial, operational and post period highlights, CEO and CFO reports, and considered whether it contains any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the information in the condensed set of financial statements.

This report is made solely to Bango PLC in accordance with guidance contained in ISRE (UK and Ireland) 2410, 'Review of Interim Financial Information performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity'. Our review work has been undertaken so that we might state to Bango PLC those matters we are required to state to them in a review report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than Bango PLC, for our review work, for this report, or for the conclusion we have formed.

Directors' responsibilities

The half-yearly financial report is the responsibility of, and has been approved by, the directors. The AIM rules of the London Stock Exchange require that the accounting policies and presentation applied to the financial information in the half-yearly financial report are consistent with those which will be adopted in the annual accounts having regard to the accounting standards applicable for such accounts.

As disclosed in Note 2, the annual financial statements of the group are prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union. The financial information in the half-yearly financial report has been prepared in accordance with the basis of preparation in Note 2.

Our responsibility

Our responsibility is to express to Bango PLC a conclusion on the financial information in the half-yearly financial report based on our review.

Scope of review

We conducted our review in accordance with International Standard on Review Engagements (UK and Ireland) 2410, 'Review of Interim Financial Information Performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity' issued by the Auditing Practices Board for use in the United Kingdom. A review of interim financial information consists of making enquiries, primarily of persons responsible for financial and accounting matters, and applying analytical and other review procedures. A review is substantially less in scope than an audit conducted in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland) and consequently does not enable us to obtain assurance that we would become aware of all significant matters that might be identified in an audit. Accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion.

Conclusion

Based on our review, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the financial information in the half-yearly financial report for the six months ended 30 June 2017 is not prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the basis of accounting described in Note 2.

GRANT THORNTON UK LLPChartered AccountantsAuditorCambridge19 September 2017