Mi-Pay revenue boosted by fraud management launch

Mi-Pay Group's shares edged upwards on Wednesday as the company reported a reduction in annual loss as revenue crept up following the launch of its new fraud management service.

The online payment and fraud management specialist recorded a loss before tax of £0.2m for 2018, a 64% improvement compared to the year before, as revenue increased by 9% to £3.3m and administrative expenses decreased by 11% to £2.3m.

Top line growth was assisted by the creation of Mi-Pay's fraud management services, which contributed revenues of £0.3m after the signing of a 12 month contract to deliver indemnified fraud services on mobile top up and digital content services in mainland Europe.

However, revenue from Transaction Services slipped to £2.6m from £2.7m due to the impact of reduced pricing with the AIM traded company's largest client, while percentage revenue per transaction declined to 2.5% from 2.8%.

Revenue from Mi-Pay's final segment, the Professional Services unit, remained flat at £0.4m despite percentage revenue per transaction declining to 12% from 13%.

Michael Dickerson, executive chairman of Mi-Pay, said: "2018 has been a year of strong progress for Mi-Pay in which key milestones have been achieved. We processed over £100m in fully managed payment transactions for the first time and successfully delivered indemnified payment fraud management services driving £0.3m of profitable new revenue."

Cash and cash equivalents stood at £3.5m at the end of the year, up from £2.9m at the same point the year before.

"The market we operate in continues to change as new European payment compliance directives impact solution providers and our clients consolidate their offerings and vendors, especially as they increasingly focus on the transition to digital solutions, our core offering. This offers both opportunities and risks, however our knowledge, in house solutions and efficiencies in digital e-commerce provides a strong platform to build from," said Dickerson.

Mi-Pay Group's shares were up 0.85% at 11.85p at 1149 BST.