Dubai: Network International, in which Emirates NBD now holds over 25 per cent stake after its Initial Public Offering, posted a double digit growth in revenues but registered a fall in profit from continuing operations fell due to one time cost triggered by the primary offering.
Network International posted revenues of $152 million in the first six months to June compared to $135 million in the same period last year. Profit from continuing operations fell 55 per cent to be at Dh15 million.
The surge in revenue came in from Africa with a 21.6 per cent increase on the back of significant volume growth in the number of cards hosted, complemented by increased cross-sell across the customer base.
… we are well positioned to deliver on the guidance shared at the time of listing and anticipate delivering low double-digit constant currency organic revenue growth ….
The company said customer momentum remained strong, with several customers including Emirates NBD and Emirates Islamic renewing contracts, and the signing of new direct acquiring customers and new financial institutions, including in Saudi Arabia.
“Looking ahead to the rest of the year, we are well positioned to deliver on the guidance shared at the time of listing and anticipate delivering low double-digit constant currency organic revenue growth while maintaining stable underlying EBITDA margin,” Rohit Malhotra, Chief Financial Officer, at Network International said in a statement.
Acceleration
“We expect our performance to accelerate to lowto-mid-teen organic constant currency revenue growth along with further moderate operating leverage over the medium-to-long term, with a number of growth accelerators being pursued that are expected to provide incremental upside in due course,” he added.
21.6 %
increase in revenue generated from AfricaMalhotra said during the conference call that its capex would be at around 22 per cent of revenue this year, “once the tranformation is done, we expect capex to be at 8 per cent.” Capex as a percentage of revenues should reduce materially in coming years.
The company witnessed a strong listing on London bourse and the company witnessed an appreciation in its market cap to 2.975 billion pounds compared to the valuation of 2.18 billion pounds at the time of listing. Network International shares were up 0.67 per cent to be at 599 pence per share, and have gained 26 per cent from April 10, when it made its debut.
Biggest market
After investments, Saudi would be the company’s second biggest market. Jordan currently is the second biggest market and contriutes about 8 per cent of the reveues. Malhotra declined to divulge more details. Currently Saudi Arabia, unlike the UAE, is a heavy debit market and not a credit market.
On the new customer front, the company has signed a new bank in the UAE, and a few others in the Mena region, according to chief executive officer, Simon Haslam.
