First-half growth drives Boku higher

The price of shares in AIM-listed mobile payments firm Boku (LON:BOKU) rose by 5.39% to 107.50p (as of 13:40 B-ST) after it reported a 39% increase in revenues for the six months ended 30th June. Adjusted EBITDA for the period climbed by 72%, slightly below half of the company’s full-year target, but management said that they still expect to meet the level of existing guidance.

CEO Jon Prideaux commented: “Our overall guidance for the year was for $52 million of revenue, gross margins of 93% in Payments and 40% in Identity leading to adjusted EBITDA growth of between 45% and 50%. Overall revenue at $23.5 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $4.3 million represent 45% and 47% respectively of our full year targets. There’s no question that we need a good second half in order to deliver; we anticipate one and thus leave our guidance unchanged.

“Gross margins in both segments are ahead of target. Within Payments we expect a stronger second half driven by the game release schedule, the traditional Christmas peak and a spate of new connections. We now have a pipeline of more than 250 deployments – moderated by some extended promotional periods by some customers. In Identity, we expect the investment that we have made in sales resource to start to pay off and also to start generating more non-US revenue as international connections become activated.

“Looking ahead to 2020, the strong pipeline in both Identity and Payments give me confidence in the long-term health of the business“.