Shares in Monitise (MONI) leapt almost 10 per cent after the mobile-payments specialist secured £109m in gross proceeds from an oversubscribed equity fund-raising this week. It has earmarked the cash to fund its shift from a licensing model to a subscription-based one, which should lower the upfront costs and technical hurdles of joining its network, driving higher revenues in the long run.
Monitise also outlined several ambitious targets. By mid-2018, it intends to grow its registered user base from 28m to 200m, and drive gross margins of 70 per cent at least. It also announced the global rollout of a payment and shopping network aimed at mobile users.
But its plan also comes with a disclaimer - it expects capital spending to rise from £14m last year to £20-£30m this year, and £30-£40m in 2015. The company also lowered its sales growth forecast from 50 to 40 per cent this year, and says its cash losses this half may exceed last half's decline of £10.2m.
