Pushpay revenue climbs as US churches sign up for service

Pushpay Holdings, the mobile payments app developer, boosted revenue 39 percent in the first quarter as growth in its US faith-based merchants offset a decline in its SMS business.

Total annualised committed monthly revenue was $12.8 million at June 30, up from $9.2 million three months earlier, the Redmond-based company said in a statement. Merchant ACMR, which tracks its clients who use the PushPay system to collect money, rose 69 percent to $9 million, while its Run the Red ACMR fell 2.4 percent to $3.7 million.

Pushpay is targeting the US faith sector for growth where there are more than 314,000 churches with an average 500 attendees each. The company aims to push merchant numbers above 2,000 by its Sept. 30 half-year mark, and those client numbers climbed 42 percent to 1,416 in the three month period ended June 30.

The company raised $13.8 million in April, via a pro-rata non-renounceable entitlement offer with eligible shareholders offered 1 new ordinary share for every 14 shares already held. A portion of the funds were used to repay outstanding debt under the Christopher - Banks standby facility. As at June 30 the company had $13.84 million in cash and available funding, up from $4.32 million three months earlier.

Last month the company migrated to the NZX main board from the small cap NZ Alternative Index. Pushpay shares fell 2.4 percent to $4.