SUPERB RESULTS

REG - Optimal Payments PLC - Interim Results19 Sep 2012 - 07:01

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on the link below: http://pdf.reuters.com/Regnews/regnews.asp?i=43059c3bf0e37541&u=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20120919:nRSS5828Ma RNS Number : 5828M Optimal Payments PLC 19 September 2012 Optimal Payments Plc Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2012 Strong first half growth, on track to exceed full year market expectations Optimal Payments Plc (LSE: OPAY) ("Optimal Payments", the "Group" or the "Company"), a leading online payments provider, today announces its results for the six months ended 30 June 2012. Highlights · EBITDA(1) up 76% to $11.2m (H1 2011: $6.4m). · Revenues up 37% to $78.9m (H1 2011: $57.4m). Fixed costs marginally down following headcount reduction in Q1. · Profit before tax $1.7m (H1 2011: loss of $4.1m). · Strong organic growth from NETBANX Straight Through Processing division ("STP"), up 68% to $61.9m (H1 2011: $36.9m) with continued strength and growth in Asia. · NETELLER Stored Value ("SV") revenues down to $16.2m (2011:$18.0m(2)) principally as a result of the fallout from Black Friday(3) in H1 2011. § Initiatives undertaken in H1 have produced improved results in second half to date. Major investment in NETELLER SV platform now complete and cost base aligned. § US online gaming opportunity taking shape. · Strong demand from existing customers and from new customers won during the first half including Ford Credit, Hockey Canada and Rona. Commercial agreement signed with Lotus F1 Team. · Strong H1 revenue exit run rate positions the Company for further growth in second half and on track to exceed the market consensus full year expectations. Financial summary (unaudited) Six months ended 30 June 2012 2011(5) US$ million US$ million Revenue Straight Through Processing (NETBANX bureau & gateway services) 61.9 36.9 Stored Value (NETELLER eWallet & Net+ cards) 16.2 18.0 Stored Value - discontinued revenues (4) - 2.1 Investment income 0.7 0.4 Total Revenue 78.9 57.4 EBITDA (1) 11.2 6.4 Profit/(loss) before tax 1.7 (4.1) Tax (charge)/recovery (6) (2012 charge relates to 2004/5 period) (2.5) 0.5 Net loss for the period (0.8) (3.6) (1) EBITDA is defined as results of operating activities before depreciation and amortisation and exceptional non-recurring items which are defined as items of income and expense of such size, nature or incidence, that in the view of management their disclosure is relevant to explain the performance of the Group. (2) Excluding discontinued revenues - see note 4. (3) "Black Friday" refers to the regulatory action taken in April 2011 against certain major poker operators which resulted in many players ceasing to play poker worldwide. (4) Discontinued revenues were derived from e-money expiry which is now subject to different rules under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011. (5) 2011 comparables include only 5 months of revenues and costs from the OP Inc business acquired on 1 February 2011. (6) Tax charge in the period relates to expected reassessment of 2004/5 Canadian taxes following a review by the Canadian Revenue Agency which commenced in 2005. The Board has made a full provision for the amount it believes it is likely to be required to pay in respect of withholding taxes and interest. See note 17 in the Financial Statements for more detail. Commenting on today's results announcement, Joel Leonoff, President & CEO, said: The combination of NETELLER and OP Inc. has produced a multi-faceted payment product offering and positioned the emerged business Optimal Payments Plc to benefit from a rapidly evolving online payment market. Our efforts have resulted in a fully integrated and right-sized business with an efficient cost base. Our operationally geared business model, continued focus on product development and R&D, along with our strong presence in the internet payment market have combined to produce significant organic revenue and EBITDA growth. Our H1 results and strong foundation position the Company well for further growth in H2. The online payment industry continues to consolidate and the Group should benefit from the expected significant growth in both the online and mobile commerce markets. We see substantial opportunities to provide innovative solutions to merchants and consumers in both the NETELLER eWallet and NETBANX

Cannacord
Estimates for the size of the New Jersey market alone range from $200m to the state's aspirational $1.2bn.

Valuation
We believe Optimal Payments continues to take market share in the rapidly growing STP and ewallet markets, supported by leading technology, tactical improvements and strong partnerships. We reiterate our multiples-derived target price of 380p.

Furthering its lead in US online gaming - Maintain BUY, target 380p
What's new?
Optimal Payments has partnered with 888.com to offer a pre-integrated payment solution for the US gaming market. The partnership covers the 888.com brand and all other licensed operators who use the 888 platform in the US. 888 currently has agreements in place with operators in Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware. The Optimal Payments solution includes payment, gateway and digital wallet services specifically designed to meet the requirements of US state gaming regulators.

Impact on the Canaccord Genuity view
We believe Optimal Payments is ahead of competitors in the US online gaming market. The company has a strong brand and was early in developing a broad range of solutions specifically for US online gaming. Optimal is investing in a broad product suite including credit card, debit card and electronic cheque processing, risk services, geo location, PCI compliance, chargeback management, reporting and other value added services that currently appears unmatched by competitors. In addition, the North American based management has strong relationships with key players in the US and has signed key partnerships, including Bally Technologies, Caesars Interactive Entertainment and 888.com, which we estimate together cover over half the licensees in Nevada and New Jersey.

We believe the US online gaming market may be another driver of long-term outperformance for Optimal Payments. We have taken a very conservative approach to the market in our forecasts. We have not built any significant impact from US online gaming until 2015. Despite Optimal's solution already being live and processing for licensed operators in the US, we believe the rate of uptake and ultimate profit potential of the opportunity is uncertain. Estimates for the size of the New Jersey market alone range from $200m to the state's aspirational $1.2bn.

Valuation
We believe Optimal Payments continues to take market share in the rapidly growing STP and ewallet markets, supported by leading technology, tactical improvements and strong partnerships. We reiterate our multiples-derived target price of 380p.

Share performance catalyst
We believe continued earnings outperformance, new US states such as California, New York and Illinois opening, and operational progress of the US online gaming market may drive shares higher.

More good news today.

Optimal Payments Launches New Payment Processing
RNS
RNS Number : 0883V
Optimal Payments PLC
10 December 2013


Optimal Payments Launches New Payment Processing and Fraud Management System

for eBay-owned Magento E-commerce Platform



Becomes Silver Industry Partner making it easier for Magento's online retailers to accept payments and reduce losses from fraud



LONDON, MONTREAL and NEW YORK (December 10, 2013) -- Optimal Payments (LSE AIM: OPAY), a leading global online payment solutions provider, has launched an integrated payment processing and fraud management solution specifically designed to serve the online retail clients of Magento, a leading e-commerce platform owned by eBay with more than 150,000 merchants worldwide.

In addition, Optimal Payments is now a Magento Silver Industry Partner. The program allows premier technology companies to reach, market and provide solutions to Magento's ecosystem of e-commerce developers and merchants.

The new Magento 'Optimal Payments Extension,' a free software download from Magento Connect, provides connectivity to Optimal Payments' NETBANX payment gateway. It is fully compatible with Magento's Community and Enterprise editions and provides merchants with the industry's most comprehensive payment processing system including seamless integration with ThreatMetrixTM fraud management tools. Merchants are able to significantly reduce fraud by automatically holding, flagging and/or denying suspicious orders before a shipment is made. Operational tasks are further simplified by being able to manage holding and releasing orders - as well as issuing credits, refunds or cancelling orders - all directly through the Magento platform.

Magento merchants will also benefit from the integration of the NETBANX gateway with Silent POST technology. This enables the capture and processing of sensitive credit card and cardholder data in Optimal Payments' PCI Level 1 compliant environment with no payment information stored locally on merchants' servers thereby significantly reducing their PCI compliance requirements.

"The Optimal Payments Extension offers Magento clients of all sizes access to our international payment processing capabilities, multicurrency support and global fraud management tools," said Martin Leroux, chief business development officer, Optimal Payments. "Furthermore, our integrated ThreatMetrix service will help merchants minimize their losses while providing a positive checkout experience for their legitimate customers."



About Magento

The Magento eCommerce platform serves more than 150,000 merchants worldwide and is supported by a global ecosystem of solution partners and third-party developers. Magento is a feature-rich, open-source, enterprise-class platform that offers merchants a high degree of flexibility and control over the user experience, catalog, content and functionality of their online store. In August 2011, Magento was acquired by eBay Inc., and is now a division of X.commerce, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY).

From across road.....

SCSW comment last week;

Optimal Payments

333p Epic code: OPAY

(Sharewatch) More new share price highs as Nevada became the third state to legislate real money online gaming on 27 November. Another 15 states are about to follow but despite that and gross margins on the Neteller wallet being c.83%, Canaccord has not put US potential into its forecasts until 2015. Other US analysts are saying online gaming in the US will blot out the sun by going from virtually nothing to US$8 billion in four years so only a matter of time. We have Optimal’s trading update in January (14th last year) and we suspect there will be upgrades to follow. Canaccord’s target is 380p. An exciting second dimension is the expected acquisitions. Keep buying

Berenberg initiated today, with a 452p price target to be precise. Those broker valuations are going up and up...imagine what will happen once we get an acquisition or two:

Https://research.tdwaterhouse.ca/research/public/Markets/CommoditiesNews?documentKey=1314-L3N0JO1G5-1

"Optimal Payments : Berenberg starts with buy; price target 452p"

Many thanks GF.

Well 3m the MMs seem to be keeping a tight lid on it at the moment. I think at sometime over xmas and new year its going to explode upwards.

Thanks for update GF. Much appreciated. I bought some more stock at 322 to top up!

hi david havent seen you posting for a while. Good to see you back. yep some very positive news in last few days. Results mid Jan aswel. Fingers crossed as always.

It never fails - good news yet again and down she goes.

LOL yep seems to be that way 3m.

Whole market as turned this afternoon.

Just think the MMs are setting it up for a santa rally from next monday.

Hope so GF. One knows what they say about santa and once a year hahaha!!!

Yes indeed LOL.

Yes but think of the money you are going to make when it pushes up again!!!

Indeed indeed. david.

bloody hell worn out.

at least i give it a go.

More than worn out - been waiting 8 yrs for this - hopefully it will pay for my funeral hehe !!

I presume you all agree that OPAY has such a lot of (hopefully) good news to be announced in the new year it should climb higher. I try not to look at the price from day to day but if it drops a bit when I do, I buy a few more. At least it is not boring!!

Results were around the 14th of Jan last year.

Lovely finish to the year. results around the 14th of Jan.