4 Nov 2020

NZ-owned Pushpay doubles half-year profit

2:21 pm on 4 November 2020

Pushpay has doubled its half-year profit as donations surged on its platform.

Online transaction using credit card and phone.

Photo: 123RF

The New Zealand-owned, US-based mobile payments company said its profit rose by 107 percent for the six months to September to $US13.4 million ($NZ19.9m).

Pushpay provides mobile donation services to churches and charities in North America.

Revenue rose by just over a half to $US86.5m, as the money processed on its platforms increased by 48 percent to $US3.2 billion.

"The company has made significant progress integrating the Pushpay and Church Community Builder solutions as we continue to execute against our shared vision and strategic goal of becoming the preferred provider of mission-critical software to the US faith sector," Pushpay chief executive Bruce Gordon said.

"As Covid-19 has impacted communities and organisations across the globe, Pushpay's teams remained committed to supporting our customers and providing innovative technology solutions that enable communities to remain connected and engaged through digital means, which is now more important than ever."

In its interim report, the company said customer growth remained flat over the six months to September, but the company reported a strong increase in subscription revenue as existing customers purchased other products.

The business benefitted indirectly from Covid-19 as the lockdowns restricted in-person church congregations, which placed more emphasis on live streamed services and digital donations.

"In terms of digital giving trends, Pushpay's processing volume over the six months ended 30 September 2020 was higher than the company expected prior to Covid-19," the company said.

On the back of the strong result, the company lifted its full-year profit guidance to fall between $US54m and $US58m.

Gordon said Pushpay would continue to future-proof its business and was on the lookout for potential acquisitions that would add value to the company.

Its long-term plan was to grab half of the medium and large church market, which represents more than $US1bn in revenue.

The company also announced a four-for-one share split of its shares.

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs