9 Aug 2010 07:00
9 August 2010
Earthport plc
("Earthport" or "the Company")
Trading Update
Earthport plc, the provider of cross-border electronic payment services today announces a trading update for the period from mid February to 31 July 2010.
Following the last round of fundraising in February 2010, and the strengthening of the Board with the appointment of Hank Uberoi as an executive Director, the Board undertook a full review of Earthport's existing business, technology platform, management and internal processes, products and market opportunities.
Whilst certain elements of the review remain ongoing - the Company has re-vamped and re-energised its processes and products and continues moving forward with implementing its growth strategy. Earthport now has a stable and competitive service offering and is already seeing the first signs of success. The June/July 2010 period was a record for Earthport in terms of both transactions and recurring revenue, albeit from a low base. Recurring revenue in June 2010 was 25% higher than for the monthly average during the year to end June 2010. It is important to note that this growth is from the Group's existing customer base and that new clients or products are not reflected in the volume number as they remain at various stages of implementation.
In addition to the growth in the business from the Group's existing client base, we are pleased to announce the following new business developments:
·; Earthport's "Bring Money Home™" service has gone live at Philippine National Bank ("PNB") and the first set of customer transactions has been processed. Bring Money Home™enables PNB's customers to send money back to the Philippines cost-effectively and securely, extending the bank's remittance capability by offering the convenience of online transactions between bank accounts. The Bring Money Home™ rollout currently includes all European countries, along with New Zealand and Australia. Further information is included in a separate announcement released today.
·; The first corporate client under our previously announced IBM GERS agreement has gone live and the first set of transactions have been processed. While this implementation will add modest volume - it is an important confirmation of our product offering for corporate clients.
The Company is also developing other innovative products in the payments space for various client segments and some of these are in the process of being launched and will be announced as they go-live with clients.
On 30 April 2010, the Board was strengthened further with the appointment of Vinode Ramgopal as a Non Executive Director. Vinode is the CEO and Chairman of Marco Polo Group Ltd, a financial services firm focused on Global Emerging Markets.
Current trading
The business is stable with a healthy pipeline of clients and product offerings for several client segments each of which has significant potential to add to transaction volumes and revenues over the coming years. While the Company has clearly experienced a tumultuous and testing period, the Board is confident about the future growth opportunities for Earthport.
Year end results are expected to be released in the second half of October.
- ENDS -
For further details, please contact:
| Earthport | 020 7220 9750 |
| Hank Uberoi / Zafar Karim |
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| Financial Dynamics | 020 7831 3113 |
| Jonathon Brill / Alex Beagley |
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| Panmure Gordon | 020 7459 3600 |
| Katherine Roe / Stuart Gledhill |
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