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

StockMarketWire.com
Optimal Payments has acquired Montreal-based mobile platform developer FANS Entertainment Inc. for C$16m, payable to the vendors by issuing shares in a subsidiary of Optimal Payments.

The shares are exchangeable on a one-for-one basis into shares of Optimal Payments over the next three years, a portion of which are subject to the satisfaction of certain financial performance criteria.

The total number of Consideration Shares issued to the vendors was 3,163,633

The following should be good news for Neteller.

www.gamblinginsider.com/news/1254/california-online-poker-bill-passes-through-committee

Gamblinginsider.

California online poker bill passes through committee
Friday 29th May 2015
By David Cook
A bill to legalise online poker in California has been approved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

AB 431, which was introduced by Assemblyman Adam Gray in February, received 14 yes votes and zero no votes, while three committee members did not submit a vote.

According to GamblingCompliance, the bill will now advance to the Assembly floor, where it will be held until the conclusion of two further hearings on the matter have concluded, which begin on 24 June and 8 July.

The bill was unanimously approved by members of the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee, which Gray chairs, in April.

A coalition, made up of provider Amaya Gaming, Indian tribes the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, and card rooms the Bicycle Hotel and Casino, the Commerce Casino and Hawaiian Gardens Casino, sent out a statement in response to the vote, that was published by Online Poker Report.

The statement read: “We’re pleased that AB 431 passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee today. We are optimistic this new development represents another step forward in the growing effort to authorise and regulate online poker in 2015.

“Clearly there is much left to do to draft bill language that meets the needs of Californians for a safe and competitive online market, but success is within our grasp if all stakeholders seriously engage in the process.”

And Pennsylvania is edging closer, the next committee meeting is next Tuesday.

hxxp://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/18848-pennsylvania-lawmakers-it-makes-no-sense-to-not-regulate-online-poker-sites

Also a bit of fun. The Daily Mail (Yes I know very sad!) on 27 May

From today's Mail....

Http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-3097839/MARKET-REPORT-Joe-Joan-Public-enjoyed-strong-income-stream-year-FTSE-100-housebuilders-15-dividend-yielders.html

"In the note Rocket On The Launchpad Numis says Optimal Payments’ shares – 4.5p off at 282.75p – are mis-priced.

Its target price is 450p. Analyst Ivor Jones says the company has not achieved lift off yet. But completion of the online payment group’s transformational acquisition of Skrill, its promotion to a full listing and the FTSE 250, should light the blue touch paper.

Once it gets up to speed it will pull the price along in its wake. Get on board, the broker says."

It would be very nice to reach 450p but lets be realistic. This share is in danger of being range bound for a while. Recent purchases long term should come through but it may be a rocky road.

I shall be watching to see where we go when 300p is near.

At present I hold 5000 shares and average 260p. I made serious money out of these last year so hopefully it will perform well.

Update on acquisition of Skrill
Good progress being made

LONDON, MONTREAL and NEW YORK (1 June, 2015) - Optimal Payments Plc announced on 23 March 2015 that it had entered into an agreement to acquire Sentinel Topco Limited and its subsidiaries from Sentinel Group Holdings S.A., ultimately owned by funds managed and advised by subsidiaries of CVC Capital Partners SICAV-FIS S.A., Investcorp Technology Partners, and other shareholders, for an enterprise value of approximately €1.1 billion (the "Acquisition").
As announced, the Acquisition constitutes a reverse takeover under the AIM Rules for Companies and is subject to the satisfaction of a number of conditions including, amongst other things, Optimal Payments shareholder approval, the receipt of change of controller approvals from the FCA, the completion of the transfer of Skrill USA Inc. to Sentinel Group Holdings S.A. having obtained any necessary approvals from the relevant US regulatory authorities that have granted Skrill USA Inc. US money transmission licences, and any necessary approval for the issue of Optimal Payments shares to Sentinel Group Holdings S.A. in connection with the Acquisition (the "Skrill Consideration Shares") from the relevant Delaware regulatory authority that has granted a US money transmission licence to a subsidiary of the Company.
Optimal Payments is pleased to announce that a number of these conditions have now been or will shortly be satisfied.

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5047118

Nibble, nibble, nibble - time it went in the blue!!!

Patience 3m! A very solid base for the sp as it is trading within a close range. Summer in the UK is generally a dull time for stocks, so may take until the autumn to start showing life. Your 166p Rights Issue shares are still nicely in the money, so not all bad!

StockMarketWire.com
Standard & Poor's and Moody's have assigned Optimal Payments a 'BB+' and '(P)Ba2' rating respectively with a stable outlook.

Standard & Poor's has assigned a 'BB' long-term credit rating to Optimal Payments and a 'BB+' issue rating to the company's senior secured term loan B, which forms part of the proposed new $500m senior secured facility and the $85m senior secured revolving credit facility, both to be issued by Optimal Payments on completion of the acquisition of Skrill. Separately, Moody's Investors Service has assigned a provisional '(P)Ba2' corporate family rating (CFR) to Optimal Payments and a '(P)Ba2' rating to the company's new debt facilities. Both ratings agencies separately assigned a 'stable' outlook to their respective ratings.

david lucas 30 may gambling b win in the frame, large holder sells to clear deck,
for a bid ?

Down it goes again just for a change - NOT!!!

firms buying usa companys usually pay to much they come unstuck, margins in
opay appear to be 16% not that good, must see better figs, or forcast before I buy
@ 230

directors are being fed well. with options, increase debt,to buy this stock now 225p
uncertain , rights previouse 166 .

Heaven help us, where to next?

StockMarketWire.com
Optimal Payments confirms trading to end-June remains strong and in line with market expectations. Completion of the acquisition of Skrill remains subject to regulatory approval by the UK's FCA, which is expected to be made no later than 30 July 2015.

Unless the FCA exercises its statutory right to interrupt the consideration period. Completion of the acquisition will take place shortly after the receipt of FCA approval.

As previously announced, following the completion of the acquisition the Company will be seeking the admission of its ordinary shares to listing on the premium segment of the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and admission to trading on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market for listed securities.

It is expected that the Company's ordinary shares would then be eligible for inclusion in the FTSE 250 Index of the London Stock Exchange.

Barclays note today:
"Optimal Payments has released a 1H15 trading update confirming that trading to the end of June remained strong and in line with market expectations. No other new information is included, but the statement goes on to confirm the anticipated timing around the Skrill deal being set to close following FCA approval, which is expected by the end of July, and that the move to the Main Market will follow. Optimal also confirms that it will host a capital markets event in November. Our anticipation for 1H15 is for c. 30% growth, driven by the Meritus/GMA acquisition of the prior year. Within our numbers, we also take account of the tough comparative from the World Cup last year and the weaker EUR having an impact on the Neteller business.

The stock has dropped by almost 20% in the last 10 days and 35% since its peak following the Skrill announcement. Whilst the weakness after the deal was explainable as investors sold the rights, there seems very little rationale behind the recent move and appears purely to be driven by speculation. We believe there are concerns over its Greek exposure, which we estimate is 4-5% of revenues. Whilst these revenues might see some disruption if Greece would exit, it is unlikely to be significant in a group context. After Greece, the focus moved to the Main Listing and when no prospectus was filed by June 30, investors worried that the listing was delayed. Yesterday this developed into investors asking whether the deal might be delayed or perhaps even off.

We see the above apparent reasons for Optimal’s weakness as pure speculation and, with today’s trading update, OPAY wants to set the record straight. The trading update in itself added very limited information and was clearly written to emphasise that the current time line for the closure of Skrill is on track and that the move to Main and FTSE 250 will follow after this closure. Optimal is trading at 10x our FY16E EPS and we reiterate Overweight."

Canaccord comment:
"After a 21% decline in the share price over the last month alone, Optimal Payments provided an update that we believe may address some negative speculation in the market. The update addresses three key share price catalysts: First, Optimal stated that trading in H1 2014 remains strong and in line with market expectations. We believe this should address concerns that Optimal's largest client might drive disappointment. Second, Optimal stated that the completion of the Skrill acquisition is due to take place shortly after the receipt of FCA approval, which is expected no later than 30 July. Seeing that the acquisition remains on track should give investors confidence that Optimal's earnings should benefit from acquisition synergies over the coming quarters, in our view.
Finally, Optimal detailed its continued progress towards a move to the LSE Main Market. Therefore, investors should continue to expect Optimal's inclusion in the FTSE 250 and we believe, potentially, a rerating of the shares.
We reiterate our BUY recommendation. Shares now trade at a deep discount to peers. Optimal trades at 7.8x EV/ 2016E EBITDA on our estimates compared to 13.8x for Safecharge and 13.5x for Wirecard on consensus estimates. Optimal plans to announce H1 2015 results on 26 August and host a Capital Markets Day in November 2015."

Glad I decided to double up this morning once I saw year to date is strong and in line. Shame I didn't do it yesterday though!

Thanks Harrycat for the broker comments

No problem. I hold this stock, both from pre RI and at 166 RI price, so am keen to see it go up to at least the £3 level. I notice neither of the brokers have given a target price, which is a bit annoying.