Boku Inc Trading Update (5935C)

TIDMBOKU

RNS Number : 5935C

Boku Inc

23 January 2018

23 January 2018

Boku, Inc.

("Boku" or the "Company" and, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group")

Trading Update for the year ended 31 December 2017

Boku 2017 revenues exceed $24m - up 40% on 2016 - and an Adjusted EBITDA positive second half

Boku (AIM: BOKU), the world's leading independent direct carrier billing company, is pleased to provide the following unaudited trading update for the year ended 31 December 2017. This is the Company's first Trading Update since Admission to AIM in November 2017.

The Group saw continued growth in all key metrics during 2017:

 
      --   Revenue for FY 2017 is expected to be in 
            the range $24-24.5 million, an increase 
            of approximately 40% over 2016 ($17.2 million) 
      --   Adjusted EBITDA* is expected to be positive 
            for H2 2017, a major milestone for the 
            company 
      --   Total Processed Value (TPV)** of $1.7bn 
            for 2017 was more than triple the 2016 
            amount of $554 million thanks to continued 
            growth across all customer segments - most 
            notably App Stores and Digital Music Subscriptions 
            & Bundling 
      --   Monthly active users of the Boku platform 
            exceeded 8 million in December 2017, a 
            140% increase over the same period in 2016, 
            demonstrating that Boku continues to provide 
            an effective way for digital merchants 
            and platforms to acquire new paying customers 
      --   The company held approximately $20m in 
            cash at the end of 2017 
 

* Adjusted EBITDA excludes costs relating to the IPO, Restructuring Costs, Stock related expenses and FX Gains/Losses

** TPV is the $ value of transactions processed by the Boku platform

Jon Prideaux, Boku CEO, commented: "2017 was a pivotal year for Boku. By tripling our TPV, increasing our revenue by 40% and having positive adjusted EBITDA for the entire second half we have helped our customers to acquire millions of extra paying users and laid the foundations for further growth. 2017 also encompassed our successful Admission to AIM, which has enabled us to accelerate our growth plans.

"We're seeing the benefits of scale playing through: by processing more volume, Boku can both have a lower unit cost and support a cost base that allows us to deliver a wider array of products and services to our customers.

"We remain focused on growth: we will roll out our existing customers and products into new territories and develop new services, leveraging our core carrier integration capabilities, in the areas of location, authentication and identity."

Enquiries:

 
 Boku, Inc. 
  Jon Prideaux, Chief Executive Officer    +44 (0)20 
  Stuart Neal, Chief Financial Officer      3934 6632 
 Peel Hunt LLP (Nominated Adviser 
  and Broker)                              +44 (0)20 
  Edward Knight / Nick Prowting             7418 8900 
 IFC Advisory Limited (Financial 
  PR & IR) 
  Tim Metcalfe / Graham Herring /          +44 (0)20 
  Heather Armstrong / Miles Nolan           3934 6630 
 

Notes to Editors

Incorporated in 2008, Boku is the leading independent direct carrier billing company in the world. Boku's technology enables mobile phone users, of which there are more than five billion worldwide, to buy goods and services and charge them to their mobile phone bill or pre-pay balance.

Boku's platform connects its customers, including Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Spotify and Sony, with billing, identity and sales systems of mobile network operators. The Group's technology makes a consumer's mobile phone number a convenient and secure payment method, providing an alternative to credit and debit cards. By using Boku, merchants take people with mobile phones and make them paying users.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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January 23, 2018 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)