Equals marks strong finish to FY21 with revenue up 52% Y/Y
Equals Group plc (LON:EQLS), a technology-led international payments group focused on the SME marketplace, today announced a strong trading performance for the financial year ended 31 December 2021 (FY21) resulting in unaudited revenue of £44.1 million, an increase of 52% on the prior year.
The Group reports revenue for the final quarter of 2021 of £15.3 million, 96% higher than the corresponding quarter in 2020 and 28.1% higher than in the third quarter of 2021. Revenue from the Solutions product stream (at its core the ‘own-name multi-currency IBAN’ capability) generated £3.5 million since its introduction in May 2021, demonstrating the revenue potential of the investments made in technology and product in FY-19 and FY-20.
Overall earnings in FY-21 are in line with management expectations.
The Group is also in a robust financial position with £13.2 million of cash at bank as at 31 December 2021.
Early trading in FY-22 has continued the strong trend seen in FY-21 and despite the well-publicised cost inflationary pressures (particularly on payroll and utilities), the Group expects to continue to manage its costs effectively.
Equals says it will continue to invest between 20% and 25% of its headcount costs into further technology and product developments for FY-22 but expects this to drop below 20% in FY-23 as the core capabilities are delivered. In addition, the Group will be increasing its sales and marketing activities to maximise B2B revenue growth from its payments platforms – Equals Money, targeted at SME’s, and Equals Solutions, targeted at larger corporates.
“Travel Money’ (travel cash and personal pre-paid debit cards) averaged 5% of revenue in Q4-21, and the Group sees opportunities for a potential bounce-back this year from the FY-21 levels of revenue (approximately £2.8 million) towards FY-19 levels (approximately £8.0 million).
Ian Strafford-Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, said:
“Our repositioning as a B2B focused fintech off the back of our technology and product developments has differentiated us from our peers. We are now monetising these capabilities, as can be clearly seen by the rapid rise in our revenues. Without the need for additional investment capital, we are able to grow revenues, profits and cash balances whilst continuing to invest in further product developments. Accordingly, we are extremely excited and confident in the future of the Group.”