Paysafe Eyes Expansion Following Big Beat On Earnings

After a revenue-doubling first half of 2016, Paysafe is launching a new digital wallet product that will help firms sell items like pharmaceuticals, alcohol and fresh groceries.  Paysafe made its initial appearance on the FTSE earlier this year – and has seen its sales grow from $223 million to $486.7 million, following the acquisition of Skrill.

Skrill was a rival online payment group.

Paysafe is best known for its work in online gambling and gaming – the Isle of Man based firm generates 45 percent of its business through online gambling, with an additional 10 percent deriving from gaming in general.

“The gambling niche has helped buoy our business on an ongoing basis,” Joel Leonoff, chief executive, said. “We have more than 90 per cent of wallet payments in gaming and gambling, but there are a slew of other payment types.”

To expand into those other payment types, Paysafe is planning to launch a host of other digital wallets focused on specific target areas like fresh food, fast food and alcohol.

“People are jumping out of cars to capture Pokemon in a park; it gives you a sense of how people are tied to their phones. We want to leverage that,” he said.

Paysafe has upgraded its full-year revenue guidance to between $970 million and $990 million and incrased from previous projections of $960m.  The firm has currently been drawing comparisons to its much larger rival – Worldpay – which also reported stronger than expected earnings for Q2.

“Paysafe’s transaction volumes are less than one-tenth those of Worldpay, but its growth rate is double and the reported gross margin of 54 per cent dwarfs that of Worldpay at 22 per cent,” commented Peter Roe at Tech Market View.

“Paysafe will increasingly have to compete with the likes of Worldpay as it grows. It will look to its more agile and entrepreneurial culture, expanding portfolio and acquisition strategy to build customer relationships with growth companies across the connected economy. Management confidence is high, as usual, with revenue guidance for the year edging up towards the $1bn mark.”