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19 April 2011

Optimal Payments Plc Audited Results for the year ended 31 December 2010

Optimal Payments Plc Audited Results for the year ended 31 December 2010
Thursday, 31 March 2011 – Optimal Payments Plc (LSE: OPAY) ("Optimal", the "Group" or the "Company"), the leading alternative payments business, presents its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2010.

Operational Highlights

  • Transformational acquisition of Optimal Payments straight through processing ("STP") business concluded on 1 February 2011
  • New Stored Value platform "Newteller" fully live
  • Business Transformation programme - headcount down significantly to 309 at year end
  • Substantial progress on delivering Group three year strategic objectives, including growing our STP business, extending our verticals outside of gaming and delivering a North American presence
  • Name change from NEOVIA Financial Plc to Optimal Payments Plc completed

Financial Highlights

  • EBITDA (2) of $11.2m (2009: $8.0m)
  • Trading revenue of $60.7m, up $0.2m (2009: $60.5m) - weaker stored value revenues offset by 15% improvement in Straight Through Processing (STP) revenues
  • Profit before tax and other items of $2.3m (2009: loss $1.7m)
  • Balance sheet strength maintained with total Group cash of $64.2m at year end and no debt – before acquisition of Optimal Payments business

Financial summary (audited)

Year ended 31 December   2010
US$ million
2009
US$ million
Revenue(1)      
Stored Value (NETELLER eWallet & Net+ cards) 44.0 46.0
Straight Through Processing (NETBANX gateway & bureau) 16.7 14.5
Trading revenue   60.7 60.5
Investment income   0.8 1.6
Total revenue   61.5 62.1
EBITDA (2 )   11.2 8.0
Profit / (loss) before other items(3)   2.3 (1.7)
(1) Revenue for 2009 was reclassified to reflect the impact of rebates which had previously been shown gross. 2009 reported revenue of $64.5 million included $2.4 million of rebates.
(2) EBITDA shown before other items including share option expense, foreign exchange gain/loss, loss on investment, impairment loss, restructuring costs, loss on disposal of assets, acquisition costs and acquisition costs impairment.
(3) Profit/(loss) before other items is EBITDA after deducting share option expense, foreign exchange/loss and depreciation and amortisation.

Commenting on today's results announcement, Mark Mayhew, President & CEO, said:

"2010 proved to be a year of extremes for the company; positive progress has been made in realising our medium term business strategy and achieving materially improved earnings. However revenues were in line with 2009 and below the Board's expectations for the year.
Our NETBANX processing business delivered a strong performance with volumes processed up by 165%, revenues up by 15%. The need to materially diversify our business was shown by the softness in our second half gaming derived stored value revenues as the impact of changed regulatory environments in France and certain Asian markets was felt.
The creation of Optimal Payments Plc marks a watershed in the Company's recent history: the platform of people, processes and proven proprietary technology that has been 'injected' into the enlarged entity provides greater diversity within the business and the scale to succeed in the fast growing globally accessible e-commerce market.
The Company successfully delivered much of the planned Business Transformation programme: member management is handled now solely from the Calgary infrastructure. Headcount was reduced to 309 but many of the process and product related changes scheduled for adoption in H2 have been deferred into 2011 by the late, but successful, deployment of Newteller in Q3.
The Newteller programme has largely defined the Company's positioning in the stored value market. Its inherently complex nature contributed to a delay in launching the new platform and increases in cost. However, we are proud to have a wholly new generation stored value platform at the heart of our business and the clear loss of competitive position in the last two years will be corrected as a result of its availability. This is the focus for the newly installed leadership in the stored value division.
Current trading and outlook
Revenue in the first two months of 2011 has been in line with management's expectations and the Board continues to be optimistic about the outlook for the Group. With good progress made in 2010 and the opportunities from a successful integration programme, product and process enhancements delivered from a fully functioning Newteller and a strengthened leadership team, the Board is confident about the Group's prospects going forward."

For more information:

This page is a summary of the full annual results press release. See the details below for the full information

About Optimal Payments Plc

Trusted by businesses and consumers in over 180 countries to move and manage billions of dollars each year, Optimal Payments Plc is the leading payments company offering a true alternative to banks and card schemes. Merchants use the NETBANX® processing service to simplify how they accept and settle card, direct-from-bank, and cash payments; and the NETELLER® payment account to increase margins, capture new customers and increase their lifetime value. Being independent has allowed the company to support tens-of-thousands of retailers and merchants in many geographies and across multiple industries.
Optimal Payments Plc is quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM, with a ticker symbol of OPAY. Subsidiary company NETELLER (UK) Ltd is authorised and regulated as an e-money issuer by the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA).
For more information about Optimal Payments visit www.optimalpaymentsplc.com or subscribe at www.optimalpaymentsplc.com/feeds/.
Media and Investor Contacts
Optimal Payments' media relations team can be contacted through the Media Relations Contact page. Relations with the investor and analyst community are managed by Citigate Dewe Rogerson who can be contacted through the Investor Relations Contact page.

2 comments:

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