Pushpay shares rally 9 per cent after positive earnings update

Pushpay chief executive Chris Heslip. Photo/NZ Herald.

Shares in digital church collection payment operator Pushpay rallied by 9 per cent after the company issued a positive earnings update.

The stock gained 27 cents to $3.22 after the company said it had achieved its target of breaking even on a monthly cash flow basis prior to the end of 2018 and is confident it will now have positive cash flows on an ongoing basis.

The NZX-listed, US-headquartered software-as-a-service company said it was cashflow positive for the quarter ended December 31. It also delivered positive earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and currency adjustments for the period, it said without providing figures.

Pushpay also said its annualised processing volume - which is the annualised four-week average payment transaction volume through its platform - increased from US$3.2 billion as at September 30 to more than US$5.0 billion as at December 31.

Excluding the seasonal high period, which falls in the last three weeks of December, the annualised processing volume increased to more than US$4.0 billion as at December 10, it said.

It remains confident it will achieve its revenue guidance of between US$97.5 million and US$100.5 million for the year ending March 31; a gross margin percentage exceeding 60 percent for the six months ending March 31; and positive ebitdaf for the year to March 31.

"Given the strength of the underlying business, Pushpay is well positioned to capitalise on opportunities to accelerate growth, including potential acquisitions that add significant value to the current business," said chief executive Chris Heaslip.

Pushpay provides a donor management system, including donor tools, finance tools and a custom community app. In November, it said it had 55 of the largest 100 US churches on its books, including the largest, which boasts 51,900 weekly church attendees.
- Stafff Reporter, BusinessDesk