TIDMBOKU
RNS Number : 8729Y
Boku Inc
19 January 2022
19 January 2022
Boku Inc.
("Boku" or the "Company" and, together with its subsidiaries,
the "Group")
Trading Update
Strong growth in volumes, revenues and EBITDA in 2021
Boku, a leading global mobile payment and mobile identity
company, is pleased to provide the following unaudited trading
update for the financial year ended 31 December 2021.
The Group grew the volume processed through its mobile first
payments network ("M1ST") of Direct Carrier Billing ("DCB"),
eWallets and Real Time Payments by 18% in 2021 to exceed $8.2bn.
Volumes generated from the newer payment methods - eWallets and
Real Time Payments - increased five-fold. The Identity division,
which, as announced earlier today, is being divested, also
continued its improving performance. These improved operating
metrics led to an expected 22% increase in Group revenues and an
expected 31% increase in Group Adjusted EBITDA*, as Boku invested
to build out the M1ST payment network.
Group highlights
-- Group revenues for 2021 expected to be approximately $69.0m,
an increase of 22% (2020: $56.4m)
-- Group Adjusted EBITDA* increased by 31% to an estimated $20.0m (2020: $15.3m)
-- On a constant currency basis, both Group revenues and EBITDA would have been $2.3m higher
-- Group cash of $62.4m on 31 December 2021 (30 June 2021: $48.6m)
o $11.88m of the $20m debt used to acquire Fortumo paid down at
year end
-- Average daily cash balance - a measure which smooths out the
effect of carrier and merchant payments, was $50.5m in December
2021 (June 2021: $38.0m)
Boku Payments division
Boku Payments division had another very positive year with
progress on DCB, eWallets and Real Time Payments:
-- Payments division revenues increased 21% to an estimated $61.9m (2020: $51.2m) and represents approximately 90% of the Group total
-- Total Processed Value ("TPV")** of $8.2bn up 18% (2020: $6.9bn)
-- Payments revenues on a constant currency basis would have
been $2.3m higher and TPV would have been at least $360m higher
-- Payments EBITDA* up 21% to an estimated $22.9m (2020:
$19.0m), reflecting investment into the 'mobile first' M1ST
payments network in H2, as previously flagged
-- New launches during the year with Google, Netflix, DAZN,
Spotify, Epic Games, Facebook, Amazon, Riot Games and Tinder across
DCB, eWallets and Real Time Payments
-- Monthly Active Users ("MAU") increased by 3.8m to 32.3m in
December 2021, growth of 13% over December 2020
-- M1ST network expanded to over 7bn end user accounts, 42% of which are non-DCB
-- Volumes processed from eWallets and Real Time Payments
increased five-fold during the year, from a small base. eWallets
and Real Time Payments MAUs increased nine-fold to over 1.1m
-- Non-DCB Customers now include leading global companies in
digital advertising, streaming music, streaming video, games and
games consoles
Boku Identity division
The Identity division saw strong revenue growth in 2021 and
improved EBITDA as a result of good growth, particularly in
Asia.
-- Identity revenue growth of 37% to an estimated $7.1m (2020:
$5.2m) with strong growth outside of the U.S.
-- Reduced Identity EBITDA* loss of approximately $2.9m (2020: $3.9m loss)
-- Connections added in Germany, Spain, Italy and Indonesia drove increased usage
-- Identity division to be sold to Twilio for a maximum
consideration of $32.3m as announced earlier today
* Adjusted EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxation,
depreciation and amortization): Adjusted for stock option expenses,
Forex gains/losses and Exceptional items
** TPV is the US$ value of transactions processed by the Boku platform
Jon Prideaux, Boku's CEO, commented : "We are pleased with our
2021 performance with b oth Payments and Identity showing good
growth, and Group revenue and EBITDA running considerably ahead of
last year. Without a significant exchange rate headwind, mostly
affecting the second half, both revenues and EBITDA would have been
materially higher. These results show that Boku has been able to
maintain its performance through the pandemic, despite some
distortion to traditional seasonality patterns which we expect to
revert to normal in 2022. Our growth has enabled us to make
significant investment in the second half in building out our
Mobile First 'M1ST' payments network.
" Following the disposal of Boku Identity to Twilio, Boku enters
2022 as a pure-play payments company, with continued strong growth
in the underlying metrics: new users and TPV. Underpinning this
performance is Boku's position as the Direct Carrier Billing (DCB)
provider, mostly exclusively, to the world's largest digital
merchants. Importantly, during the year we further expanded our
payments reach, with eWallet and Real Time Payment volumes
increasing five-fold, albeit from a small base. It is clear that
these new methods will be a key factor driving Payments revenue
growth in 2022.
"We look forward to reporting our audited results in March
2022."
Enquiries:
Boku, Inc.
Jon Prideaux, Chief Executive Officer +44 (0)20 3934
Keith Butcher, Chief Financial Officer 6630
Peel Hunt LLP (Nominated Adviser and Broker) +44 (0)20 7418
Edward Knight / Paul Gillam/ James Smith 8900
IFC Advisory Limited (Financial PR & IR)
Tim Metcalfe / Graham Herring / Florence +44 (0)20 3934
Chandler 6630
Notes to Editors
Boku Inc. (AIM: BOKU) is a leading global provider of mobile
payment solutions. Its Mobile First Payments Network 'M1ST'
features 330+ mobile payment methods, including mobile wallets,
direct carrier billing, and real-time payments schemes, reaching
over 7 billion mobile payment accounts in 91 countries - all
through a single integration.
Customers that trust Boku to simplify sign-up, acquire new
paying users and prevent fraud include global leaders such as
Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, PayPal, Sony,
Spotify and Tencent.
Boku Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in
London, UK, with offices in the US, India, Brazil, China, Estonia,
France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan and
Vietnam.
To learn more about Boku Inc., please visit:
https://www.boku.com
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
TSTBKFBQOBKDDDD
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 19, 2022 02:01 ET (07:01 GMT)
Boku (LSE:BOKU)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Boku (LSE:BOKU)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024