Trading Update & Notice of Results

Equals Group PLC

03 July 2024

 

The information contained within this Announcement is deemed by Equals Group Plc to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR").

For immediate release

3 July 2024

Equals Group Plc

('Equals', the 'Group' or the 'Company')

H1-2024 Trading Update

Notice of Interim Results

Consistent with prior years, Equals Group plc (AIM:EQLS), the fintech payments group focused on the Enterprise and SME marketplace, provides the following trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2024 ('H1-2024' or the 'Period').

The Group is pleased to announce a strong period of trading in H1-2024 with revenues up £14.9 million compared with the same period last year to £60.0 million, an increase of 33% year-on-year (H1-2023: £45.0 million).

Revenues

Revenue per quarter, by product line, customer group, and income type is shown below:

In £000's	Q1-2023	Q2-2023		Q1-2024	Q2-2024
By product line
-     Solutions	6,506	7,082		11,157	13,541
-     International Payments	5,573	5,472		5,575	7,375
-     White Label	4,453	4,487		4,050	4,436
-     Cards	3,246	4,142		3,470	3,879
-     Banking	1,849	2,088		1,981	2,044
-      Europe*	-	-		1,082	1,371
-     Bureau**	129	-		3	-
Total	21,756	23,271		27,318	32,646
Totals per H1		45,027			59,964
By income type
-     FX	12,240	12,495		11,600	13,638
-     Fees	7,829	8,260		11,580	13,593
-     Interest	1,687	2,516		4,138	5,415
	21,756	23,271		27,318	32,646
-     % from B2B	83%	82%		87%	88%
Working days	63	60		63	62
Revenue per day (£000's)	345	388		434	527

* Equals Money Europe S.A. was acquired on 4 July 2023

** The FX bureau was disposed of on 28 March 2023

Equals Money Europe ('EMEU'), formerly Oonex S.A., was acquired by the Group on 4 July 2023. Expressing EMEU's revenue on a like for like basis, including pre-acquisition trading, denominated in the underlying currency of Euro's, shows the following progression:

In €000's	Q1-2023	Q2-2023		Q1-2024	Q2-2024
EMEU revenue	757	816		1,263	1,608

EMEU has now been onboarded by a Tier 1 UK bank and expects to be able to grow the revenues in this jurisdiction, particularly in FX and Solutions, going forward.

Revenue Analysis

The Group is augmenting the presentation of its financial information to present the underlying financial performance across its revenues. The table above shows the breakdown between FX revenues, fees and interest income.

FX revenues, which incorporate both direct and white-label, are partly reliant on market conditions and volatility in rates leading to increased customer activity. After a quiet Q1-2024 we saw a strong pick up in Q2-2024. Overall, FX revenues from B2C customers are subdued given macro-economic conditions whereas B2B revenues are more robust.

In keeping with the strong growth in our Solutions platform, fee-based revenues have grown both in comparison to prior year and quarter-on-quarter during H1-2024. Within Solutions, fee-based revenues are more recurring in nature as customers typically enter into longer-term contracts with agreed monthly minimum fees.

The Group also earns interest income which is primarily earned on safeguarded customer balances held off balance sheet, over three currencies (GBP, EUR and USD) and across four Tier-1 banks.

Interest, particularly in Solutions, is a key component of the pricing discussion with clients and is therefore assigned to the segment generating the underlying balances. Not only have balances grown but the Group has renegotiated better rates and margins with its Tier-1 partner banks.  

Cash position

As at 30 June 2024, the Group had no debt and had cash at bank of £20.5 million having already settled the following items during the Period:

·    dividend paid to shareholders on 28 June 2024, totaling £1.9 million;

·    costs pursuant to past acquisitions settled in the Period, totaling £1.8 million; and

·    third-party costs incurred on the strategic review totaling £0.5 million.

Notice of Interim Results

Consistent with prior years, Equals is pleased to announce that it will report its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2024 in the week of 9 September 2024.  The Group will also provide an update on trading in Q3-2024.  A further announcement will be made nearer the time to confirm a precise date as well as meeting arrangements for sell-side analysts and retail investors.

Strategic Review

The strategic review remains ongoing, and a further update will be provided on 10^th July 2024.

- Ends -

For more information, please contact:

Equals Group plc
Ian Strafford-Taylor, CEO Richard Cooper, CFO	Tel: [phone] www.equalsplc.com
Canaccord Genuity (Nominated Adviser & Broker)
Max Hartley / Harry Rees	Tel: [phone]

Burson Buchanan (Financial Communications)
Henry Harrison-Topham / Steph Whitmore / Toto Berger [e-mail]	Tel: [phone] www.bursonbuchanan.com

Notes to Editors:

Equals Group plc is a technology-led international payments group augmented by highly personalised service for the payment needs of SME's whether these be FX, card payments or via Faster Payments. Founded in 2007, the Group listed on AIM in 2014. For more information, please visit www.equalsplc.com.

 

END