Last checked at 5 Jul 2018 07:00
5 July 2018
Boku, Inc.
("Boku" or the "Company" and, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group")
Trading Update for the six months ended 30 June 2018
Strong first half growth. Total Payment Volume and Monthly Active Users more than double.
Boku (AIM: BOKU), the world's leading independent direct carrier billing company, is pleased to provide the following unaudited trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2018.
The Group saw continued growth in all key metrics during the first half of 2018:
· | Revenue for H1 2018 is expected to be in the range $16.5 million to $17 million (2017 $10.2 million); representing growth in excess of 60% on H1 2017 |
· | Adjusted EBITDA* has remained positive for H1 2018 with earnings on track to meet full year expectations |
· | Total Processed Value (TPV)** of $1.5 billion for H1 2018 was 153% up on H1 2017's figure of $0.6 billion. The total processed in the whole of 2017 was $1.7 billion |
· | 10.3 million Monthly Active Users (MAU) of the Boku platform in June 2018 (H1 2017: 4.7 million) |
· | The company held approximately $30 million in cash at the end of period (2017: $20 million). The average daily cash balance - a measure which smooths out the effect of carrier and merchant payments, was $23.1 million in June (December 2017: $19.2 million)
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* Adjusted EBITDA: Adjusted for IPO costs, stock option expenses, Forex gains/losses and Exceptional items** TPV is the $ value of transactions processed by the Boku platform
Jon Prideaux, Boku CEO, commented: "Our customers come to us for help in acquiring new users and I'm delighted to report that, with 10.3 million Monthly Active Users, we've more than doubled this most important metric in the last year.
Driven by these new users and increased stickiness for existing users, more than $1.5 billion was processed through our system in the first six months of the year, a growth of 153%. Spending through our platform is the raw material that we turn into revenue and by controlling costs we're able to generate the earnings that can be used to make sensible investments in future growth.
These volumes make us the scale player in our industry, which is important: scale means that we can simultaneously afford to operate the world's most sophisticated, high-capacity, carrier billing platform whilst having the lowest unit cost. We are continuing to roll out new and existing customers into new territories and are developing new products. I'm particularly encouraged by the reaction of the market to our Mobile Identity offerings.
We are very pleased to have achieved this level of growth across all of our key metrics, and look forward to reporting continued growth in the future."
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/ 2014. For the purposes of MAR and Article 2 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1055, this announcement is being made on behalf of Boku by Stuart Neal, Chief Financial Officer of Boku.
Enquiries:
Boku, Inc. Jon Prideaux, Chief Executive Officer Stuart Neal, Chief Financial Officer
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+44 (0)20 3934 6630
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Peel Hunt LLP (Nominated Adviser and Broker) Edward Knight / Nick Prowting
| +44 (0)20 7418 8900 |
IFC Advisory Limited (Financial PR & IR) Tim Metcalfe / Heather Armstrong / Florence Chandler | +44 (0)20 3934 6630
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Notes to Editors
Incorporated in 2008, Boku is the leading independent direct carrier billing company in the world. Boku's technology enables mobile phone users, of which there are more than five billion worldwide, to buy goods and services and charge them to their mobile phone bill or pre-pay balance.
Boku's platform connects its customers, including Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Spotify and Sony, with billing, identity and sales systems of mobile network operators. The Group's technology makes a consumer's mobile phone number a convenient and secure payment method, providing an alternative to credit and debit cards. By using Boku, merchants take people with mobile phones and make them paying users.