Boku Inc (LON:BOKU), a global network of local payment solutions, has announced the following unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2024.
Financial Highlights
· Revenues increased 24% to $47.3m in H1 2024 (H1 2023: $38.2m), up 30% on a constant exchange rate1 basis driven by continued increases in transaction volumes for our global merchants across all Local Payment Methods2 (“LPMs”).
· Revenues include $11.9m from digital wallets and Account to Account2 (“A2A”), up 64% from $7.3m in H1 2023, showing continued adoption by merchants, following our strategic initiatives focused on enhancing and expanding our product offerings in these areas.
· Adjusted EBITDA1 increased 18% to $14.2m in H1 2024 (H1 2023: $12.1m restated) representing an Adjusted EBITDA margin1 of 30.1% as we keep our commitment to maintain Adjusted EBITDA margin above 30% while we continue to invest in the business.
· An operating loss of $0.4m was reported for H1 2024 (H1 2023: operating profit $2.1m restated). This was primarily due to increases in foreign exchange revaluation losses on non-USD balances, share based payment expenses driven by increases in both the number of awards granted and our average share price together with accelerated amortisation charges relating to a legacy platform.
· Boku’s ‘own’ cash1 increased to approximately $75m at the period end (H1 2023: $54.4m and FY 2023 $70.4m). Total group cash was $148.5m at 30 June 2024 up from $113.9m at 30 June 2023 (FY 2023 $150.9m). The Group remains debt free.
· The average daily cash balance1, a measure which smooths out the effect of carrier collections and merchant payments, was $138.6m in June 2024, up from $105.8m in June 2023.
· In H1 2024, $1.6m was spent repurchasing 700,000 of Boku’s own shares under the share buyback scheme.
· Interest income increased to $1.6m in H1 2024 (H1 2023: $0.5m) as more cash was moved to longer term deposits.
· A higher Boku share price drove a fair value loss of $3.3m on the Amazon warrants (H1 2023: fair value gain of $0.02m).
Operational highlights
· We continue to see significant growth in both users and payment volumes:
o 30% increase in monthly active users2 (“MAUs”) in June 2024 to 79.6m (June 2023: 61.2m).
o 39.9m new users made their first payment or bundling transaction with Boku during the first half of the year (H1 2023: 32.7m).
o Total Payment Volume2 (“TPV”) up 16% to $5.8bn (H1 2023: $5.0bn) and up 26% on a constant exchange rate basis in the period.
· Growth driven by strong performance in digital wallets and A2A connections:
o MAUs increased 86% to 8.8m in the month of June 2024 (June 2023: 4.7m).
o New users increased by over 46% to 9.2m in H1 2024 (H1 2023: 6.3m).
· Take rate2 increased to 0.81% in H1 2024 (H1 2023: 0.76%) driven by higher take rates from digital wallet revenues.
· Over 50 new launches across LPMs in H1 2024 with new and existing merchants including Netflix, Sony and Google.
The shareholders have approved the board’s proposal for a new stretch restricted share unit plan. This plan will support and reward the performance of the executive management team of the Company in a fair, transparent and proportionate manner.
Stuart Neal, Boku’s CEO, commented:
“Following on from a very positive 2023, the first half of 2024 has seen Boku continue to demonstrate strong revenue growth, largely driven from existing merchants. We are committed to supporting merchant growth and are lifting our ambition to be the world’s best localised payments partner for global commerce. The first half has therefore also seen us increase our investment in our products and the infrastructure required to scale whilst maintaining our Adjusted EBITDA margin above 30%.
“It is pleasing to see continued double-digit growth in our Direct Carrier Billing (“DCB”) product, proving once again its resilience and the value it adds for our merchants. Digital wallets and A2A payments have kicked on again and comprised 25% of total Group revenues in H1 2024. We have expansion plans for these products with all our key merchants, most of which we would expect to see rolled out over the coming two years; thus, it is our expectation that the product mix within our business will continue to see an increasing shift towards these payment types.
“We reiterate our expectation that 2024 will be a year of solid top line growth that is in turn funding an increase in investment, with Adjusted EBITDA margins staying broadly flat on 2023. We remain confident that we will achieve expectations for the full year.”
1 These represent alternative performance measures for the Group. Refer to the Non-IFRS financial information section of Boku’s 2024 Interim Report for a summary of APMs used, together with their definitions.
2 For a full list of definiitons and abbreviations used by the Group, refer to the Glossary at the end of Boku’s 2024 Interim Report.
Investor Presentation
The Company will be hosting an online investor presentation and Q&A session at 5.30 p.m. BST, today, Tuesday 24 September 2024. This session is open to all existing and prospective shareholders. Those who wish to attend should register via the following link where they will be provided with access details
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nTiw40r8QsqXtvpPZKXyww
Participants will have the opportunity to submit questions during the session, but questions are welcomed in advance and may be submitted to: [email protected].
