Boku (BOKU) nudged into the black in the first half, posting a modest operating profit of $0.2m (£0.15m) compared with a loss of $2.3m in the same period last year. Much of the company’s revenue growth was thanks to the “rude health” of its payments division, which fattened up as digital merchants such as Netflix (US:NFLX) enjoyed stronger demand during lockdown.
Indeed, total payment volumes were up by more than a third to $3.1bn, with 11m new users making their first transaction on the company’s platforms. The scale is perhaps unsurprising given that Boku launched carrier billings in partnership with the likes of Alphabet’s Google (US:GOOGL) and Spotify (US:SPOT) in the period.
Meanwhile, Boku’s smaller identity division saw its sales drop by a fifth to $2.7m, which management attributed to the impact of coronavirus on existing merchants. The segment was still able to build on its international carrier supply, which now has more than 200 clients globally.
House broker Peel Hunt forecasts adjusted pre-tax profits of $7m and EPS of 1.9 cents in the 2020 full year, rising to $12.2m and 3.2ȼ in 2021.
| BOKU (BOKU) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 91p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 257m | |
| TOUCH: | 89-92p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 114p | LOW: 49p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | na | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 30ȼ* | NET CASH: | $57m | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (ȼ) | Dividend per share (ȼ) |
| 2019 | 23.5 | -2.5 | -0.1 | nil |
| 2020 | 24.7 | 0.9 | nil | nil |
| % change | +5 | - | - | - |
| Ex-div: | na | |||
| Payment: | na | |||
*Includes intangible assets of $47m, or 17ȼ a share £1=$1.29 | ||||
