Trading Update & Notice of Results
03/07/2024 07:00
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RNS Number : 8793U Equals Group PLC 03 July 2024
The information contained within this Announcement is deemed by Equals Group
Plc to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse
Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR").
For immediate release 3 July 2024
Equals Group Plc
('Equals', the 'Group' or the 'Company')
H1-2024 Trading Update
Notice of Interim Results
Consistent with prior years, Equals Group plc (AIM:EQLS), the fintech payments
group focused on the Enterprise and SME marketplace, provides the following
trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2024 ('H1-2024' or the
'Period').
The Group is pleased to announce a strong period of trading in H1-2024 with
revenues up £14.9 million compared with the same period last year to £60.0
million, an increase of 33% year-on-year (H1-2023: £45.0 million).
Revenues
Revenue per quarter, by product line, customer group, and income type is shown
below:
In £000's Q1-2023 Q2-2023 Q1-2024 Q2-2024
By product line
- Solutions 6,506 7,082 11,157 13,541
- International Payments 5,573 5,472 5,575 7,375
- White Label 4,453 4,487 4,050 4,436
- Cards 3,246 4,142 3,470 3,879
- Banking 1,849 2,088 1,981 2,044
- Europe* - - 1,082 1,371
- Bureau** 129 - 3 -
Total 21,756 23,271 27,318 32,646
Totals per H1 45,027 59,964
By income type
- FX 12,240 12,495 11,600 13,638
- Fees 7,829 8,260 11,580 13,593
- Interest 1,687 2,516 4,138 5,415
21,756 23,271 27,318 32,646
- % from B2B 83% 82% 87% 88%
Working days 63 60 63 62
Revenue per day (£000's) 345 388 434 527
* Equals Money Europe S.A. was acquired on 4 July 2023
** The FX bureau was disposed of on 28 March 2023
Equals Money Europe ('EMEU'), formerly Oonex S.A., was acquired by the Group
on 4 July 2023. Expressing EMEU's revenue on a like for like basis, including
pre-acquisition trading, denominated in the underlying currency of Euro's,
shows the following progression:
In €000's Q1-2023 Q2-2023 Q1-2024 Q2-2024
EMEU revenue
757 816 1,263 1,608
EMEU has now been onboarded by a Tier 1 UK bank and expects to be able to grow
the revenues in this jurisdiction, particularly in FX and Solutions, going
forward.
Revenue Analysis
The Group is augmenting the presentation of its financial information to
present the underlying financial performance across its revenues. The table
above shows the breakdown between FX revenues, fees and interest income.
FX revenues, which incorporate both direct and white-label, are partly reliant
on market conditions and volatility in rates leading to increased customer
activity. After a quiet Q1-2024 we saw a strong pick up in Q2-2024. Overall,
FX revenues from B2C customers are subdued given macro-economic conditions
whereas B2B revenues are more robust.
In keeping with the strong growth in our Solutions platform, fee-based
revenues have grown both in comparison to prior year and quarter-on-quarter
during H1-2024. Within Solutions, fee-based revenues are more recurring in
nature as customers typically enter into longer-term contracts with agreed
monthly minimum fees.
The Group also earns interest income which is primarily earned on safeguarded
customer balances held off balance sheet, over three currencies (GBP, EUR and
USD) and across four Tier-1 banks.
Interest, particularly in Solutions, is a key component of the pricing
discussion with clients and is therefore assigned to the segment generating
the underlying balances. Not only have balances grown but the Group has
renegotiated better rates and margins with its Tier-1 partner banks.
Cash position
As at 30 June 2024, the Group had no debt and had cash at bank of £20.5
million having already settled the following items during the Period:
· dividend paid to shareholders on 28 June 2024, totaling £1.9
million;
· costs pursuant to past acquisitions settled in the Period, totaling
£1.8 million; and
· third-party costs incurred on the strategic review totaling £0.5
million.
Notice of Interim Results
Consistent with prior years, Equals is pleased to announce that it will report
its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2024 in the week of 9
September 2024. The Group will also provide an update on trading in
Q3-2024. A further announcement will be made nearer the time to confirm a
precise date as well as meeting arrangements for sell-side analysts and retail
investors.
Strategic Review
The strategic review remains ongoing, and a further update will be provided on
10(th) July 2024.
- Ends -
For more information, please contact:
Equals Group plc
Ian Strafford-Taylor, CEO Tel: +44 (0) 20 7778 9308
Richard Cooper, CFO www.equalsplc.com (http://www.equalsplc.com)
Canaccord Genuity (Nominated Adviser & Broker)
Max Hartley / Harry Rees Tel: +44 (0) 20 7523 8150
Burson Buchanan (Financial Communications)
Henry Harrison-Topham / Steph Whitmore / Toto Berger Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
equals@buchanan.uk.com (mailto:equals@buchanan.uk.com) www.bursonbuchanan.com (http://www.bursonbuchanan.com)
Notes to Editors:
Equals Group plc is a technology-led international payments group augmented by
highly personalised service for the payment needs of SME's whether these be
FX, card payments or via Faster Payments. Founded in 2007, the Group listed on
AIM in 2014. For more information, please visit www.equalsplc.com
(http://www.equalsplc.com) .
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