Monitise Stock Drops On News It Won’t Sell Voucher Business

U.K. mobile payments company Monitise saw its shares fall on Tuesday (May 31) after it announced it will no longer look to sell its voucher business.

Earlier this year, Monitise claimed it would sell its Markco Media division, its marketing content business that includes coupon and deal website MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, which it purchased in 2014 for £55 million, the Financial Times reported.

In a statement, Monitise explained that “greater shareholder value can be delivered by retaining the content business within the group.” The notice saw the company’s share fall nearly 8 percent after the plans to abandon the sale were revealed.

“The company will continue to regularly evaluate all assets within the Monitise group to ensure that long-term shareholder value is maximized,” the company’s statement continued.

Back in February, the British payments player reported that its losses had quadrupled in the last half-year as the firm has written off £167 million ($243 million) from the value of its business. Losses before taxes in the last six months grew rapidly from £58 million ($84.4 million) to £211 million ($307 million).

All in, the firm has lost a staggering 96 percent of its total value in the last two years, though it is aiming to break even in the second half of this year. Much of the losses have come as Monitise has shifted its central business away from its legacy core business to a cloud-based system.

Lee Cameron, the third CEO at Monitise this year, said in February that the firm was “strong and healthier” following a restructuring. He further noted: “We have faced many challenges during the last six months and have further work to do to restore investor confidence in our business, but we are adequately funded, and I am confident we will be EBITDA positive in the second half of FY16.”