Worldpay Transactions Up 14 Percent In Post-IPO Earnings Debut

Worldpay, the United Kingdom-based payments processor, said that, in the wake of its debut on the public markets last year, its underlying transaction growth clocked in at 14 percent, to more than 13 billion.

The company also said in its earnings release, detailing the first results since its IPO in London roughly five months ago, that earnings grew 8 percent to a bit more than $578 million for 2015.

Breaking down sales by region, the U.K. business grew by 11 percent, far outpacing the 3 percent growth seen in the United States. The firm’s management noted in its phone call discussing results that it is targeting growth around the world and is eyeing India and Brazil, having established a new market as well in Canada, Financial Times noted on Tuesday (March 8). The overall target for Worldpay, according to its CEO, Philip Jansen, is to grow revenues by 9 to 11 percent over the medium to longer term, which repeats guidance given when the firm listed publicly.

As has been widely reported, Worldpay was spun out of Royal Bank of Scotland in 2010 and then was subsequently bought (for£2 billion) by private equity investors Advent International and Bain Capital, which are still Worldpay’s biggest shareholders, noted FT. Capex at £180 million should eventually fall, after similar investment in 2016, to £120 million in 2017.

In other news tied to the earnings release, Worldpay said it continues to invest heavily in technology, with an aim to grow scale, and also has brought a new processing platform on board, which it says will help cut transaction times. Upwards of £450 million has been spent on the platform, with another £100 million that remains to be deployed.