Pushpay annual loss widens as it invests to drive US growth

Pushpay Holdings, whose mobile payment app allows churches to raise money from parishioners, posted a wider annual loss as it invests for future growth. It reiterated its financial targets for this year.

The loss widened to US$25.3 million in the year ended March 31, from a loss of US$13.1 million a year earlier, the Auckland-domiciled, US-headquartered company said in a statement. Operating revenue jumped to US$34 million from US$9.9 million a year earlier, while operating expenses increased to US$44.3 million from US$19 million. The shares fell 3.4 percent to $1.70.

Pushpay's app has gained traction in the US faith sector, where its services are used by 2 percent of the estimated 314,000 churches. Over the past year, the company has lifted its customer numbers and is getting more revenue from each customer. To aid its expansion the company increased staff numbers by 75 percent, taking its total headcount to 376, with almost three quarters of them based in the US.

"Pushpay believes that it is preferable to focus on and invest in growth as the best means to achieve overall value in its business," the company said. "The USA faith sector represents a large, under-served market with minimal competition. Pushpay is just scratching the surface of the revenue opportunities."

The company's average revenue per merchant increased to US$625 per month, from US$434 per month, while its total merchants rose to 6,737 from 3,766.

Annualised committed monthly revenue, the measure of total billings through merchants that Pushpay collects fees from, soared to US$50.5 million from US$19.6 million. The company reiterated it expects to achieve US$72 million in ACMR and breakeven on a monthly cash flow basis by the end of calendar 2017.

Pushpay has inked an agreement with dominant US accounting software firm Intuit to become an authorised reseller. It said more than 70 percent of its customers use Intuit's Quickbooks as their primary accounting software, and the agreement will offer a more streamlined experience for their mutual customers.

In November, Pushpay acquired church app business Bluebridge Digital for US$3.1 million, a move which increased its potential annual revenue 47 percent to US$2.2 billion, based on the US$119.3 billion given to churches in the US in 2015. The company said today that it launched an echurch app to a group of existing customers in February, and after customer numbers and revenue beat its expectations it plans to make the app generally available to all customers at the start of the 2018 financial year.

The company had cash and available funding lines of US$13.4 million as at March 31, up from US$11.2 million a year earlier. It raised A$40 million in October in a private placement.

(BusinessDesk)