TIDMBOKU
RNS Number : 5291A
Boku Inc
23 January 2024
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION
23 January 2024
Boku Inc.
("Boku" or the "Company" and, together with its subsidiaries,
the "Group")
Trading Update
Acceleration in new payment methods drives strong growth in
revenues and EBITDA
Boku, a leading provider of global mobile payment solutions, is
pleased to announce the following unaudited trading update for the
financial year ended 31 December 2023.
Financial Highlights
-- Revenues for the year ended 31 December 2023 are expected to
be at least $82.7m (2022: $63.8m), up 30% and up 33% on a constant
currency basis**** driven by increasing transaction volumes from
our major global merchants including good growth from bundling.
-- H2 2023 revenues expected to be at least $44.5m representing
33% growth compared to H2 2022 (H2 2022: $33.4m).
-- Full year revenues include $16.9m from Local Payment Methods
("LPMs"), up 153% from $6.7m in 2022 following increasing adoption
of these products by our key merchants.
-- Adjusted EBITDA* expected to be at least $27.3m, up 33% from
$20.5m in 2022, and ahead of current market expectations, despite
continued investment in Boku's mobile-first payment network with
adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 33%.
-- Total Group cash was $151.2m at year-end, up from $ 113.9m at
30 June 2023 and $116.3m at 31 December 2022. Of this,
approximately $69.0m is Boku's 'own cash' with the balance being
merchant cash in transit. The Group is debt free. In 2023 Boku
spent $10.0m on purchasing its own shares under the share buyback
scheme.
-- The average daily cash balance, a measure that smooths out
the effect of carrier and merchant payments, was $131.5m in
December 2023, up from $105.8m in June 2023 and $98.8m in December
2022.
-- Interest income for the year was $1.9m. This amount is not included in adjusted EBITDA.
Operational Highlights
-- 67.4m Monthly Active Users ("MAUs")*** of the Boku platform
in December 2023 (December 2022: 52.3m), a 29% increase.
-- 66.1m new consumers made their first payment or bundling transaction with Boku during 2023.
-- TPV** of $10.5bn in 2023, up 19% from $8.9bn in 2022. On a
constant currency basis****, TPV was 23% higher than 2022.
-- Particularly strong growth in LPMs:
o 76% increase in MAUs of LPMs, to 6.7m in December 2023
compared to 3.8m in December 2022.
o New users of LPMs increased 64% to 13.8m in 2023 (2022:
8.4m).
-- Take rate increased to 0.79% in 2023 as a result of higher
take rates from LPMs with H2 take rate of 0.81%.
-- As previously announced, Stuart Neal, former CFO of Boku,
took over as CEO from 1 January 2024 following the retirement of
Jon Prideaux who remains on the Board as a Non-executive
Director.
Stuart Neal, Boku's CEO, commented : "It is very pleasing to be
picking up the reins at Boku with the Company experiencing such
incredible momentum. Our full year results are positive affirmation
that the Company's strategy, to build a global network of local
payment methods (LPM's) for some of the world's largest merchants,
is the right one. It is especially exciting to see how LPM's are
increasingly becoming a meaningful part of our revenues, adding to
our core DCB revenues, a trend I expect to continue. As always, our
success going forward will be predicated on the quality work
delivered by talented Boku employees, who are dedicated to ensuring
the best connectivity and optimised payment services for our
customers around the globe. It is due to such forward momentum that
the board now expects our 2023 full year results to be slightly
ahead of previous market guidance, with renewed confidence around
our medium term aspirations. We finished 2023 strongly which gives
us a good trajectory into this year and I am confident the success
of our strategy will continue in 2024 and beyond."
Following the disposal of Boku's Identity division on 28
February 2022 the prior year comparative revenues and Adjusted
EBITDA relate only to the continuing Payments business.
* Adjusted EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxation,
depreciation and amortization): Adjusted for stock option expenses,
foreign exchange gains/losses and Exceptional items. This is an
Alternative Performance Measure ("APM")
** TPV is the US$ value of transactions processed by the Boku
platform and includes transactions from DCB, Bundling, eWallets and
Account to Account payments. This is an APM.
*** Monthly Active Users (MAU) data includes all users who
successfully processed a payment or had an active bundle during the
last month of the period. This is an APM.
**** Constant currency calculated by applying the monthly
average foreign exchange rates in 2022 to the actual 2023 monthly
results. This is an APM.
Enquiries:
Boku, Inc.
Stuart Neal, Chief Executive Officer +44 (0)20 3934
Keith Butcher, Chief Financial Officer 6630
Peel Hunt LLP (Nominated Adviser and Broker) +44 (0)20 7418
Paul Gillam/ Tom Ballard/ Adam Telling 8900
IFC Advisory Limited (Financial PR & IR)
Tim Metcalfe / Graham Herring / Florence +44 (0)20 3934
Chandler 6630
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014, as
it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union
(Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended). This announcement is issued on
behalf of the Company by Keith Butcher, Chief Financial
Officer.
Notes to Editors
Boku Inc. (AIM: BOKU) is a leading global provider of mobile
payment solutions. Boku's mobile-first payments network, including
mobile wallets, direct carrier billing, and account to
account/real-time payments schemes, reaching over 7.5 billion
mobile payment accounts 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, Meta Platforms, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, 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
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END
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