18th Mar 2014 12:50
LONDON (Alliance News) - Mobile payments company Bango PLC Tuesday posted a widened pretax loss in 2013 as it upped investment in staff and infrastructure, following its transition from its legacy mobile-phone business to smart phone payment services.
The company posted a pretax loss of GBP4.9 million, widened from a pretax loss of GBP2.6 million in the nine months to December 31, 2013, even as revenue rose to GBP8.8 million from GBP7.4 million. The pretax loss was primarily caused by higher administrative expenses as the company bumped up its staff and infrastructure ahead of its collaborations with the Google Play and Amazon app stores.
The loss also was impacted by an amortisation of intangible assets of GBP1.0 million.
Bango changed its accounting year end last year to match the calendar year.
The company transitioned to being a smart phone payment services company during 2013, exiting its legacy mid-range mobile phone business. It ended 2013 with over 95% of its end-user spend coming from newer app store activities, whilst the legacy business accounted for 25% of its turnover in 2012.
Bango's key performance indicator, end user spend, was GBP15.6 million, up from GBP6.6 million, as smart phone transactions through major app stores such as Google Play and BlackBerry World boosted growth.
The company expects to see growth in transaction volumes as more app store partners connect with mobile network operators. Bango saw evidence of this growth in the second half as end user spend increased in December compared to the previous year, and it went live with its major app store partners such as Google Play.
Bango increased its yearly operating expenditure by around GBP1 million as it invested in new people and infrastructure, including adding a new Dallas data center and upgrading its existing data centre.
"It is too early to accurately predict transaction volume growth rates, and though it can take time to rollout [mobile network operator] connections for digital merchants, progress into 2014 is very positive," said Chief Executive Officer Ray Anderson in a statement.
Shares in Bango were trading down 3.6% at 147.00 pence Tuesday afternoon.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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