The Splitit Ltd (ASX: SPT) share price has been a big mover on the Australian share market on Friday.
In early afternoon trade the buy now pay later platform provider's shares are up 24% to 49.5 cents following the release of its half year results.
At one stage the Splitit share price was up as much as 31% to 52.5 cents.
What happened in the first half?
This morning Splitit revealed revenue from continuing operations of US$798,000, up 193% on the prior corresponding period. This was driven by strong growth across all its key operation performance metrics such as active merchants, customers, and payment volume.
At the end of the half the company had 509 active merchants on its platform, which was an increase of 121% on the same period last year. Customer numbers grew at the even quicker rate of 228% to 197,000, leading to the company recording a 134% increase in total payment volume to US$34.4 million.
And while the company posted a gross profit of US$721,000, on the bottom line it recorded a loss after tax of US$3.8 million. This left Splitit with a cash balance of US$23.7 million.
Gil Don, Splitit's CEO and co-founder said: "We are seeing great momentum across the business, with strong growth in all of our key performance metrics. An increasing array of merchants are accepting Splitit as we provide a global solution from day one which offers a frictionless experience for their customers."
The chief executive is positive on the future and expects recent platform additions to boost its performance in the second half.
He said: "Payment solution providers like EFTPay and e-commerce platforms like Ally Commerce have signed onto Splitit as they can quickly install their own Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solution for their customers through our technology platform."
"So established financial services players can use our platform to provide a responsible BNPL offering to their customers. This provides a powerful combination and it is anticipated that it will allow us to rapidly scale the business globally without the need for major incremental investment in the markets we are targeting," commented Mr Don.
Outlook.
With a growing sales pipeline of more than 700 potential merchants and discussions with several new potential strategic partners, management expects Splitit to continue to deliver strong growth in unique customers, transaction volumes, and merchant fees in the second half and beyond.
It isn't just Splitit pushing higher today. Also on the rise are the shares of fellow buy now pay later platform providers Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT), Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL), and Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P).
