The decision by payments specialist Safecharge International (SCH) to launch its own platform appears to have been a smart move. Safecharge Acquiring, as the service is named, ended the period to 30 June with 80 customers, meaning it processed more than 10 per cent of the group's total transactions. This had the beneficial impact of reducing the cost base by roughly $1m (£754,000) and so pushed cash profit margins up 1.4 percentage points to 32.1 per cent.
Safecharge has also launched tailor-made payment solutions for companies, including gaming giant Paddy Power Betfair (PPB), its first airline client in Israel's national airline El-Al and Sun Bingo. The group has also widened the number of services it offers existing clients and highlighted casino and bingo group Rank (RNK) as one that now used a "significantly broader" range of services from Safecharge. It further cemented its strength in the gaming sector, too, by improving its partnerships with gaming technology company Playtech (PTEC), Bede, Bit8 and SBTech. The group said it would in the coming months be investing to build its sales teams to quicken the pace of its entry into the airline, retail and gaming sectors.
Analysts at Canaccord Genuity expect adjusted earnings per share of 21.8¢ for the year to December 2016, compared with 18.7¢ in 2015.
| SAFECHARGE INTERNATIONAL (SCH) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 248p | MARKET VALUE: | £375m | |
| TOUCH: | 245-250p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 289p | LOW: 185p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 7.7% | PE RATIO: | 19 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 109p* | NET CASH: | $128m | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 49.47 | 11.7 | 8.2 | 4.0 |
| 2016 | 52.18 | 16.0 | 10.0 | 7.0 |
| % change | +5 | +37 | +22 | +75 |
Ex-div: 29 Sep Payment: 14 Oct *Includes intangible assets of $33m, or 22¢ a share £1=$1.33 | ||||
