Finablr's H1 income jumps 9.1% to $742m

Newly listed cross-border payments group Finablr announced on Tuesday 9.1 per cent growth in income to $742 million year-on-year for the first-half of 2019.
The London-listed group, which has brands including UAE Exchange, Travelex Holdings and Xpress Money in its network, reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $167.9 million, doubled year-on-year, while the adjusted figure rose 27 per cent to $103.3 million.
The group, which joined the London Stock Exchange in May, raising GBP153 million in the process, said for the six months to June, its income rose 6.2 per cent on a reported basis to $733.6 million, with the adjusted figure climbing 9.1 per cent to $742.2 million.
In a statement, the UAE based group said its interim pretax loss has widened to $23.4 million from $2.5 million, on the back of increased costs, most significantly $28.1 million related to the initial public offering, as well as higher depreciation and amortisation. The reported loss for the period, however, widened to $30.1 million at the end of the first half from $9.5 million recorded a year earlier. While expenses fell 11 per cent to $537 million, depreciation expense rose to $121.9 million.Net debt of $334.1million was reduced by $230.9 million from 31 December 2018.
The group said it processed $64.8 billion worth of transactions during the period, 14 per cent higher than the year before.
Speaking to Khaleej Times from London, Promoth Manghat, Group Chief Executive Officer, said Finablr delivered strong results at the upper end of its guidance, with growth in each of its three segments and across its channels and products. "B2B and Payment Technology Solutions, our fastest growing segment and now the single largest contributor to Group EBITDA, enjoyed growth from existing customers and continued pipeline momentum."
Dr B.R. Shetty, Founder and Co-Chairman of Finablr, said: "I am delighted to see such a strong set of maiden results from Finablr. Over the last four decades we have built global assets firmly rooted across the payments and foreign exchange markets. Now we are realising our vision to create a global financial platform serving people, companies and institutions all over the world. I am very proud of the talented and agile management team, who have spotted and developed growth opportunities, successfully delivering on our strategy."
"We were disciplined in the execution of our strategy as we continued with our technology transformation, created new partnerships and focused on high growth markets," said Manghat.
"The markets in which we operate are characterized by increasing mobility and demand for invisible payments by consumers and businesses. Our strong first half results underscore this trend. Finablr's platform, combining global regulatory licensing, omni-channel distribution and differentiated technology, uniquely positions us to continue capturing these opportunities," said Manghat, adding that the group expects to perform in line with the guidance that it shared at the time of our IPO.
This guidance includes medium-term high single-digit adjusted income growth, and an adjusted Ebitda margin of 20 per cent, also in the medium term. This stood at 13.9 per cent in the first half of 2019.
Finablr shares were 0.9% per cent higher on Tuesday morning in early trade at 164.88 pence each, meaning shares have lost 5.8 per cent since the IPO.
- issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com