Online payment provider Optimal Payments – formerly NEOVIA Financial – has been through a year of major change and chief executive Joel Leonoff now believes the business is well-placed for the future. Reported results were hammered by $29.6m (£18.6m) in exceptional costs including a $21.3m impairment on gaming related technology, but on an underlying basis pre-tax profits actually improved from a prior year loss of $3.8m to profit of $3.4m.
The group used to be focused almost entirely on providing online payment services to the US gaming sector but a government clampdown led to a reincarnation through last February's acquisition of Optimal Payments, a company that manages payments for online merchants and banks. As a result, gaming-related revenues are now less than 60 per cent of the total, down from 90 per cent in 2010. Mr Leonoff added that current year capital expenditure is forecast to halve to $6m in 2012, giving a boost to cash profits, which analysts at Canaccord Genuity expect to rise by an annual rate of 25 per cent this year and next to $22m and $27.3m, respectively. The broker forecasts 2012 adjusted EPS of 5¢, rising to 12¢ in 2013.
OPTIMAL PAYMENTS (OPAY) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 64p | MARKET VALUE: | £80m | |
| TOUCH: | 63-65p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 70p | LOW: 37p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 56¢* | NET CASH: | $43.6m** | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (c) | Dividend per share (c) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 69.9 | -185.8 | -155 | nil |
| 2008 | 69.8 | -10.0 | -7 | nil |
| 2009 | 62.9 | -10.0 | -8 | nil |
| 2010 | 61.6 | -3.8 | -3 | nil |
| 2011 | 128.0 | -26.2 | -21 | nil |
| % change | +108 | – | – | – |
*Includes intangible assets of $63m, or 50¢ a share £1=$1.589 **Excludes convertible loans of $29.5m and shareholder loans of $8.4m | ||||
