It can be a jarring jump from Aim to London's main market. Paysafe (PAYS) - formerly known as Optimal Payments - has taken it in its stride and will soon join the FTSE 250. Nor was the online payments specialist distracted by its transformative takeover of US rival Skrill, which explains the sharp changes to the statutory figures. Comparable sales climbed 13 per cent in 2015.
Strong showings from two previous acquisitions drove underlying sales up 16 per cent in the key payment processing division. Revenues rose at a similar rate in the digital wallet business as it expanded internationally and began accepting alternative payment methods such as bitcoin. But growth was more modest in the prepaid segment, which houses Skrill's paysafecard business. That reflected foreign trade restrictions in Greece and the restructuring of a recent acquisition.
Management unearthed $10m (£7.1m) in cost savings from the integration of Skrill; it expects to finish most of the work by October. The 2014 acquisition of US payment processing business MeritCard, which counts Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank among its partners, is also coming good. Prior to the results, analysts at Barclays expected pre-tax profits of $220m in 2016, giving EPS of 37¢, up from an estimated $118m and 28¢ in 2015.
| PAYSAFE (PAYS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 399p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.9bn | |
| TOUCH: | 399-400p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 419p | LOW: 215p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | NIL | PE RATIO: | 285 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 224¢* | NET DEBT: | 40% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 128 | -26.2 | -21.0 | nil |
| 2012 | 179 | 3.6 | 1.0 | nil |
| 2013 | 253 | 32.7 | 22.0 | nil |
| 2014 | 365 | 59.0 | 21.0 | nil |
| 2015 | 613 | 11.8 | 2.0 | nil |
| % change | +68 | -80 | -90 | - |
*Includes intangible assets of $1.55bn, or 322¢ a share £1=$1.43 | ||||
