CAB Payments H1 profits slump as FX headwinds persist

Financial technology group CAB Payments said on Wednesday that interim profits had slumped as FX headwinds continued to weigh on earnings.

CAB Payments said pre-tax profits had fallen 43% in the six months ended 30 June to £13.7m, while adjusted underlying earnings sunk 53% to £18.7m as adjusted EBITDA margins narrowed to 33.5% from 55.7%. H1 earnings per share sunk from 6.1p to 4.0p.

The London-listed group stated gross income had dropped 22% to £55.7m but noted that total volumes had risen 4% to £17.6bn.

"Our H1 results were resilient despite the exceptional prior year,” said chief executive Neeraj Kapur. "Our outlook remains unchanged from our previous update and there was encouraging trading at the beginning of H2. We expect our gross income to be marginally below last year whilst we exhibit good growth across a broader range of currency corridors."

CAB also revealed "an updated, more execution-focused strategy", which will focus on four areas – network, clients, platform, and investment and innovation – to deliver a "diversified business with sustainable growth".

As of 0925 BST, CAB Payments shares had slumped 10.42% to 100.32p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com