Bango PLC Trading Update & Notice of Results (2303V)

TIDMBGO

RNS Number : 2303V

Bango PLC

20 July 2018

20 July 2018

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DEEMED TO BE PRICE SENSITIVE FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATIONS

BANGO PLC

("Bango")

Trading Update & Notice of Interim Results

Bango (AIM: BGO), the mobile commerce company, provides an update on trading for the six months ended 30 June 2018, ahead of announcing its Interim Results on 18 September 2018.

End User Spend

End User Spend (EUS) continues its four-year growth trend of at least doubling every twelve months. The total EUS for 1h2018 was GBP220m compared with GBP92m in 1h2017, and GBP271m for all of 2017. As in previous years, EUS in the second half of the year is expected to be significantly higher than in the first.

Revenue

Revenue growth continues as expected, based on established routes and customers, the launch of new customers, the activation of subscription-based services, and additional billing routes.

For some recent contracts, pricing models have been established to incentivize migration of significant volumes of EUS from other channels to the Bango Platform during 2019-2020. Bango technology enables data generated from EUS to improve marketing effectiveness for customers, generating additional revenue for Bango.

Revenue growth from the Audiens customer data platform is in line with expectations at the time of the acquisition of Audiens in January 2018.

Revenue and EUS from annual subscriptions is now spread over the life of each subscription in accordance with IFRS15.

Costs

The operational costs of running the Bango Platform continue at the same level as in previous years. The highly scalable and efficient design of the Bango Platform enables it to process EUS of more than $5 billion / year on the current cost base. Total administrative expenses increased slightly to strengthen sales and marketing in Asia, to accelerate launches by mobile operators in Latin America following success in Chile, and to integrate the newly acquired Audiens business.

Cash

Bango is fully funded to reach Group profitability. Cash on 30 June 2018 was GBP5.8m compared with GBP4.8m on 31 December 2017. Funds raised in January 2018 were used to acquire Audiens, repay Audiens loans as part of a transition service agreement and integrate and invest in Audiens technology.

New launches in multiple regions

The Bango Platform was used by Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Pandora during the first half of the year to launch consumer products in various territories. An increasing proportion of services enabled by the Bango Platform are now long-term subscription services such as Amazon Prime Video and Pandora Radio.

Integration of Audiens

Audiens technology has been integrated into the Bango Platform to expand monetization opportunities for Bango customers. This has delivered increased marketing success for selected merchants in the first half, highlighting to mobile operators the benefits of migrating their app store carrier billing to the Bango Platform.

The existing Audiens business has continued to grow in 1h2018 adding several new customers, including LeoVegas, Morelatto and Unieuro, which use the Audiens technology to better organize their own data for consumer marketing campaigns. Revenue is generated by collecting, organizing and analyzing data to build customized audience segments made available to advertisers.

Ray Anderson, CEO

"The Bango Platform enables partners and customers to thrive. A strong first half of the year has been driven by our partners increasing use of the Bango Platform for more products, new geographies, and new ways for customers to pay for their products. Our competitive customer offering has been greatly enhanced by Audiens, allowing global merchants to boost customer acquisition and revenue through powerful data insights. This combined proposition is driving EUS and revenue growth, positioning Bango well for a strong second half of the year."

ENDS

For further information please contact:

 
 Bango plc 
 Ray Anderson, CEO                 [phone] 
 Rachel Elias-Jones, CFO 
 Anil Malhotra, CMO 
 
 Cenkos Securities plc 
 
 Beth McKiernan / Neil McDonald     [phone] 
 
 
 FTI Consulting 
 Matt Dixon / Rob Mindell          [phone] 
 

About Bango

Bango is the payment platform chosen by the world's most influential companies to grow their sales faster in the new age of connected commerce. Working with global stores including Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Bango has become the industry standard, helping people make payments quickly and conveniently. Through its partnerships and reach, Bango offers unique insights derived from pooled data and shared knowledge. Bango gives businesses unrivalled visibility into their markets and customers, increasing sales and customer acquisition. Built to scale, the Bango Platform supports the exponential growth ambitions of its global partners. For more information, visit www.bango.com.

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END

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July 20, 2018 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)