Bango PLC Trading Update and Capital Markets Day (4939L)

TIDMBGO

RNS Number : 4939L

Bango PLC

27 December 2018

27 December 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 and Capital Markets Day

Bango (AIM: BGO), the mobile commerce company, provides an update on expected financial performance for FY 2018. Highlights are:

- End User Spend (EUS) will be more than double FY2017, continuing the four-year trend of more than 100% growth every year. Total EUS for 2017 was GBP271m compared to an anticipated 2018 EUS in excess of GBP550m for 2018.

- EBITDA will be positive for 4Q2018, but not for the year as a whole, and therefore below market expectations. Management has decided to take revenue on several new contracts for subscription services as long-term, higher value annuity revenues rather than one-time, up-front fees this year.

- Management's positive view of continued significant revenue and EUS growth in 2019 is unchanged, augmented by a strong pipeline of influential new data monetization customers expected to close in H1 2019. The Audiens Customer Data Platform (CDP) is performing well and Bango Marketplace has delivered early initial sales, following its launch in December.

- Cash at the end of FY18, is expected to be in excess of GBP3.5m, which is sufficient to fund the Group to profitability.

During 2018 there were several Google Play activations, and the pipeline of new opportunities continues to grow. EUS from physical goods, and a range of streaming video and audio services, is growing well. The growth of merchants and EUS on the Bango Platform has been accompanied by increased revenues from Audiens CDP, and from the first sales from Bango Marketplace, enabling further monetization of payment data.

Costs are being maintained at current levels. Research and development investment is directed towards growing the data monetisation business, with more than half of sales and marketing expenditure focussed on Bango Marketplace.

Ray Anderson, CEO said:

"Trading as Bango enters 2019 is going well. The payment business continues to thrive, and the increasing pipeline of EUS that can move over to the Bango Platform gives confidence that rapid EUS growth on a stable cost base can continue. The launch of the Bango Marketplace on 13 December opens up new revenue streams for 2019 and beyond, building on unique Bango technology and the technology and relationships acquired earlier this year with Audiens SRL."

"The team at Bango look forward to updating investors and analysts on these exciting developments, and the scale of new revenue opportunities, at the annual Bango Strategy and Capital Markets Day in London on 30 January 2019."

ENDS

For further information please contact:

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

About Bango

Cross the threshold into the thriving Bango ecosystem where merchants and payment providers converge, grow and thrive. Being inside the Bango circle means global merchants including Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) are able to work together with payment partners from Africa to the Americas, accelerating the performance of everyone on the inside. By bringing businesses together and powering e-commerce with unique data-driven insights, Bango delivers new dimensions of growth and new experiences for people around the world.

Bango. Think inside the circle. For more information, visit www.bango.com.

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December 27, 2018 02:01 ET (07:01 GMT)