Paysafe thriving following Skrill takeover

Paysafe, the owner of Neteller and Paysafecard, saw its revenue and adjusted earnings more than double during the first half of 2016.

In a trading update for the period through to June 30, the payment processing company formerly known as Optimal Payments said that revenue was up 118% year-on-year to $486.7 million (€436.8 million).

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 189% to $144.2 million, which Paysafe attributed to last year’s $1 billion reverse takeover of rival Skrill and increasing profitability.

The company expects to exceed the annual $40 million of synergies that were anticipated when its takeover of Skrill was completed.

The group also said that “as a result of the exceptional half” it now expects full-year revenue to be in the range of $970-990 million, up on the previously stated $960 million.

Joel Leonoff, Paysafe’s president and chief executive, said: “We have again delivered very strong growth as our increasingly diversified payments business expands further across pay-before, pay-now and pay-later products and services.

“I am particularly pleased with the level of cash generated during the first half. Additionally, by completing the integration of Skrill more rapidly than we initially expected, we have been able to start work on developing our next-generation data platform and global merchant onboarding capabilities earlier than anticipated.”

Related article: Optimal Payments completes acquisition of Skrill