REG - Boku Inc - Trading Update

BokuAnnouncement

23/01/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 5291A  Boku Inc  23 January 2024

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION

23 January 2024

Boku Inc.

("Boku" or the "Company" and, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group")

 

Trading Update

Acceleration in new payment methods drives strong growth in revenues and
EBITDA

 

Boku, a leading provider of global mobile payment solutions, is pleased to
announce the following unaudited trading update for the financial year ended
31 December 2023.

Financial Highlights

·    Revenues for the year ended 31 December 2023 are expected to be at
least $82.7m (2022: $63.8m), up 30% and up 33% on a constant currency
basis**** driven by increasing transaction volumes from our major global
merchants including good growth from bundling.

·    H2 2023 revenues expected to be at least $44.5m representing 33%
growth compared to H2 2022 (H2 2022: $33.4m).

·    Full year revenues include $16.9m from Local Payment Methods
("LPMs"), up 153% from $6.7m in 2022 following increasing adoption of these
products by our key merchants.

·     Adjusted EBITDA* expected to be at least $27.3m, up 33% from $20.5m
in 2022, and ahead of current market expectations, despite continued
investment in Boku's mobile-first payment network with adjusted EBITDA margin
of approximately 33%.

·    Total Group cash was $151.2m at year-end, up from $113.9m at 30 June
2023 and $116.3m at 31 December 2022. Of this, approximately $69.0m is Boku's
'own cash' with the balance being merchant cash in transit. The Group is debt
free. In 2023 Boku spent $10.0m on purchasing its own shares under the share
buyback scheme.

·    The average daily cash balance, a measure that smooths out the effect
of carrier and merchant payments, was $131.5m in December 2023, up from
$105.8m in June 2023 and $98.8m in December 2022.

·    Interest income for the year was $1.9m. This amount is not included
in adjusted EBITDA.

Operational Highlights

·    67.4m Monthly Active Users ("MAUs")*** of the Boku platform in
December 2023 (December 2022: 52.3m), a 29% increase.

·    66.1m new consumers made their first payment or bundling transaction
with Boku during 2023.

·    TPV** of $10.5bn in 2023, up 19% from $8.9bn in 2022. On a constant
currency basis****, TPV was 23% higher than 2022.

·    Particularly strong growth in LPMs:

o  76% increase in MAUs of LPMs, to 6.7m in December 2023 compared to 3.8m in
December 2022.

o  New users of LPMs increased 64% to 13.8m in 2023 (2022: 8.4m).

·    Take rate increased to 0.79% in 2023 as a result of higher take rates
from LPMs with H2 take rate of 0.81%.

·    As previously announced, Stuart Neal, former CFO of Boku, took over
as CEO from 1 January 2024 following the retirement of Jon Prideaux who
remains on the Board as a Non-executive Director.

Stuart Neal, Boku's CEO, commented: "It is very pleasing to be picking up the
reins at Boku with the Company experiencing such incredible momentum. Our full
year results are positive affirmation that the Company's strategy, to build a
global network of local payment methods (LPM's) for some of the world's
largest merchants, is the right one. It is especially exciting to see how
LPM's are increasingly becoming a meaningful part of our revenues, adding to
our core DCB revenues, a trend I expect to continue. As always, our success
going forward will be predicated on the quality work delivered by talented
Boku employees, who are dedicated to ensuring the best connectivity and
optimised payment services for our customers around the globe. It is due to
such forward momentum that the board now expects our 2023 full year results to
be slightly ahead of previous market guidance, with renewed confidence around
our medium term aspirations. We finished 2023 strongly which gives us a good
trajectory into this year and I am confident the success of our strategy will
continue in 2024 and beyond."

Following the disposal of Boku's Identity division on 28 February 2022 the
prior year comparative revenues and Adjusted EBITDA relate only to the
continuing Payments business.

*     Adjusted EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and
amortization): Adjusted for stock option expenses, foreign exchange
gains/losses and Exceptional items. This is an Alternative Performance Measure
("APM")

**     TPV is the US$ value of transactions processed by the Boku platform
and includes transactions from DCB, Bundling, eWallets and Account to Account
payments. This is an APM.

***   Monthly Active Users (MAU) data includes all users who successfully
processed a payment or had an active bundle during the last month of the
period. This is an APM.

****  Constant currency calculated by applying the monthly average foreign
exchange rates in 2022 to the actual 2023 monthly results. This is an APM.

 

Enquiries:

 Boku, Inc.                                          +44 (0)20 3934 6630

 Stuart Neal, Chief Executive Officer

 Keith Butcher, Chief Financial Officer

 Peel Hunt LLP (Nominated Adviser and Broker)        +44 (0)20 7418 8900

 Paul Gillam/ Tom Ballard/ Adam Telling

 IFC Advisory Limited (Financial PR & IR)            +44 (0)20 3934 6630

 Tim Metcalfe / Graham Herring / Florence Chandler

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014, as it forms part of UK domestic
law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended). This
announcement is issued on behalf of the Company by Keith Butcher, Chief
Financial Officer.

 

Notes to Editors

Boku Inc. (AIM: BOKU) is a leading global provider of mobile payment
solutions. Boku's mobile-first payments network, including mobile wallets,
direct carrier billing, and account to account/real-time payments schemes,
reaching over 7.5 billion mobile payment accounts through a single
integration.

 

Customers that trust Boku to simplify sign-up, acquire new paying users and
prevent fraud include global leaders such as Amazon, Meta Platforms, Google,
Microsoft, Netflix, Sony, Spotify and Tencent.

 

Boku Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in London, UK, with
offices in the US, India, Brazil, China, Estonia, France, Germany, Indonesia,
Japan, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan and Vietnam.

 

To learn more about Boku Inc., please visit: https://www.boku.com

 

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