Acquisitions of City Forex, CardOne Banking bolster FairFX’s results in Q1 2018
International Payments and Prepaid Currency Card businesses drive FairFX’s turnover up in Q1 2018.
The recent acquisitions executed by international payments and banking services provider Fairfx Group PLC (LON:FFX) seem to be paying off, as the company has earlier today published an update on its performance in the first three months of 2018, revealing a robust set of metrics.
Turnover for the first three months of 2018, including CardOne Banking and City Forex, marked a 125.9% jump compared to the same period in 2017 and amounted to £439.5 million (2017: £194.6 million). This growth has been delivered on the back of strong performance by International Payments which is up 98.5% at £212.9 million (2017: £107.2 million) and Prepaid Currency Card turnover which increased 11.2% to £82.6 million (2017: £74.3 million). On a like-for-like basis, turnover from core foreign exchange services rose 31.6% year on year to £256.1 million, the company said.
Revenues, including CardOne Banking and City Forex, saw an 85.3% increase to £4.8 million (2017: £2.6 million). On a like-for-like basis, revenue from core foreign exchange services increased 18.7% to £3.1 million (2017: £2.6 million). Total customer numbers grew rapidly with 26,909 new customers added in the first quarter, bringing the total to 755,894.
The highlights for the period include the acquisition of City Forex for £6 million in cash, with the deal completed in February. City Forex has an international payments and travel currency business that is serviced through an innovative proprietary system that processes both the Travel Currency and International Payments businesses. This system is set to be combined with FairFX’s existing platform, FairFX explained. Also, FairFX will utilise its existing infrastructure and marketing methodology to engage with the City Forex customer base.
Ian Strafford-Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of FairFX, struck an upbeat note regarding future performance.
“Based on the Q1 2018 performance, partnered with planned enhancements to further boost revenues and operational efficiency, myself and the Board remain confident that trading for the full year remains in line with market expectations. We look forward to delivering further growth and increased profitability in the coming year and continuing to build shareholder value”, Ian Strafford-Taylor said.