Bango PLC (AIM:BGO, OTCQX:BGOPF), the data-driven commerce company, delivered revenue growth ahead of expectations in 2021.
Revenue grew 31.5% to US$20.7mln in 2021 from US$15.7mln in 2020, with annual recurring revenue from subscription services growing as a proportion of total revenue.
End-user spend – essentially a measurement of spending that passes through the Bango platform – shot up 73.6% to US$4.1bn from US$2.4bn the year before, representing the seventh year in a row of strong growth.
Adjusted underlying earnings (EBITDA) rose to US$6.18mln from US$5.99mln the year before. Share-based payments of US$1.55mln, amortisation of US$3.86mln and a US$2.08mln share of losses of associated companies contributed towards the company posting a loss before tax of US$1.54mln versus a profit the year before of US$870,000.
Net profit from the core Bango business, excluding the share of net loss of the NewDeep associate, was up 48.6% at US$2.5mln from US$1.7mln in 2020.
Cash at the end of 2021 stood at US$9.7mln, up from US$8.0mlm a year earlier.
“The transactional payments business continues to grow, as we added new telco [telecommunications company] routes and mobile wallets and our merchant customers delivered new products and services. Just as exciting is the accelerating adoption of the Bango platform licensing solution by tier 1 telcos and utility providers for all of their third party bundling. In 2021 we have seen our platform licensed by market leaders including BT and Verizon and the pipeline of opportunities is impressive. The recurring revenue this business brings to Bango is incremental and is expected to accelerate our growth in the coming years,” said Paul Larbey, the chief executive officer of Bango.
“2021 saw the range of customers using Bango Audiences diversify from predominantly mobile gaming app developers to financial trading, cryptocurrency and metaverse trading apps. Our investment in sales & marketing is growing awareness of Bango Audiences, as a powerful disruptor in the market, attracting this wider range of customers.
“With three powerful growth engines in the business working synergistically, Bango is well-positioned to continue taking market share and moving further towards our goal of becoming the technology behind every payment choice,” he concluded.
Shares in Bango opened 2.0% higher at 181p following the release of the results.