Bango PLC (AIM:BGO, OTCQX:BGOPF) this week reported a strong set of interim results for the first half of 2025, underpinned by growth across its transactional payments and subscription bundling businesses.
The company said recurring revenue grew by 20% during the period, while adjusted EBITDA increased by 66%, supported by expanded gross margins and lower operating costs.
Bango highlighted that its core transactional payment routes increased by 10% year-on-year.
CEO Paul Larbey and CFO Matt Wilson spoke with the Proactive studio, here we take a closer look at what was said.
Proactive: Paul, Matt, very good to speak with you. Matt, I'm going to start with you. For the uninitiated, give us the Bango elevator pitch please.
Matt Wilson: Thanks, Stephen. The overall aim of Bango is to enable the world's leading companies to scale their reach quickly and provide consumers the content and services they want, when they want them. We've got two sides to the business: our transactional payments business, where we enable global stores like Google Play or Amazon to collect payments and charge through mobile phone bills; and our Digital Vending Machine (DVM), which is our subscription bundling platform. That enables resellers, like telcos, to offer services like Netflix or Disney+ through bundle offers.
Proactive: Can you walk us through the revenue performance and the underlying drivers for each?
Matt Wilson: Sure. Looking at the first half of 2025, we’re very encouraged by the growth in our transactional payments business. Isolating core transactional routes, they grew 10% year-on-year. That’s masked somewhat by lower margin routes in the portfolio, but fundamentally the business is strong.
On the DVM side, there’s a healthy balance of growth from both new and existing customers. Importantly, churn remains zero among live DVM customers. That speaks to the model’s scalability and attractiveness.
Proactive: And what are your thoughts on the outlook?
Matt Wilson: We’ve had a very solid first six months — recurring revenue is up 20%, gross margins have expanded, and we’ve reduced costs materially. That’s driven a 66% increase in adjusted EBITDA.
Looking ahead, our priorities are to reduce net debt, continue delivering profitability, and maintain recurring revenue growth. Taken together, all signs point to meaningful cash generation as we move into fiscal year 2026.
Proactive: Paul, it's all on the commercial side. You’ve announced an accelerated number of new DVM wins this year. What's powering this acceleration?
Paul Larbey: In H1 we secured seven new DVM wins, with another since then — that’s eight year-to-date. To compare, we averaged nine per year over the last two years, so we're ahead of schedule.
The acceleration comes from several factors. First, more telcos are actively looking to bundle. Second, the business benefits from a network effect — more telcos and more content providers lead to more referrals. And third, some deals have been in the pipeline for 18 months or more and are finally closing.
Proactive: You now count six of the top eight US telcos as DVM customers, right?
Paul Larbey: Yes, the US — including Canada — is the largest digital subscription market in the world. This year we added Dish, which brings interesting opportunities across Dish TV, Sling TV (a content provider), and Boost Mobile.
Altice also became the first customer to launch our new user interface for the DVM platform. While there’s still room to grow in North America, we’re seeing customers moving up subscription tiers, which drives recurring revenue.
Proactive: It's good to see other regions gaining traction. Give us the highlights.
Paul Larbey: It’s been a global half. In Asia, we signed our first ever contract in Korea with Korea Telecom — they launched their first service last week, including an AI-based subscription via DeepL.
In Japan, a key market for DCB, we signed our first telco DVM deal. We’re trying to replicate our DCB success with the DVM platform.
In Europe, we added another Western European customer. Sales cycles there have been slow, but deals are now moving into decision phases.
And in Africa, we signed with MTN Group — our first DVM win on the continent. MTN operates in 16 markets. We’ll launch first in South Africa with 39 million customers and then expand. It’s a strong entry point.
Proactive: How do these wins position Bango for future growth?
Paul Larbey: There are three drivers for DVM growth: new customer wins, increasing consumer usage, and more bundled services. As customers move up through the licence tiers, revenue retention will grow. Users engage more, and they subscribe to more services — that’s how revenue builds.
Proactive: And finally, the key takeaway you’d like investors to have from these interim results and the 2026 outlook?
Paul Larbey: The first half is just the start. We’ve got an accelerating DVM pipeline, new customers with strong potential, and continued growth from the core transactional business. At the same time, costs and CapEx are coming down. We’re set up for meaningful cash generation and a different profitability story in 2026 and beyond. It’s a great time to be here at Bango.