Paysafe, a payments platform, said that it is on track to meet its full-year revenue targets following a 5.5% rise to a new record high in the first quarter.
Paysafe has said that it expanded its sales organization to drive new customer acquisitions, cross-selling and multi-product sales, as well as geographical expansion, during Q1 with new launches in Massachusetts Washington and Ohio being among its highlights.
Paysafe is now the payment processor for 27 states, and Bruce Lowthers, CEO of Paysafe said that recent launches and expansion plans over the next few months will help drive growth to expectations by 2023.
Lowthers stated that “we kicked off the year 2023 with our strongest quarter revenue since we went public.” “Our revenue increased by 7%, and our adjusted EBITDA grew 5% on a constant-currency basis. This was driven by growth in double-digits from both our digital wallets and e-commerce.
“We remain confident in our full-year outlook and are very pleased with the progression of our sales transformation program, which is driving higher value clients and cross-selling.”
Paysafe’s e-commerce revenue growth drives Q1 revenue increases
Total revenue for the first quarter was $387.8m (PS309.8m/EUR366.2m), up from $367.7m in the previous year. Paysafe stated that after excluding an unfavourable $7.3m impact of changes in foreign currency rates, the total revenue increased by 7.0%.
Merchant solutions revenue increased by 8.4%, to $208.5m. This is due to the growth of e-commerce and the SMB market, both in North America.
Digital wallet revenue increased by 2.0%, to $181.4m. This was driven primarily by growth in igaming, digital and interest on customer deposits. The war in Ukraine had a negligible impact. Paysafe also contributed $2.1m to intersegment revenues, which was deducted from the total revenue.
Paysafe’s primary expense is its costs of service, which increased by 8.0% to $158,9m. Costs were lower for selling, general, and administrative, restructuring, and other expenses. Impairment costs dropped from $1.21bn down to $82,000.
Paysafe reported $34.9m in net finance costs. This left a profit before tax of $71,000 compared to a net loss of $1.21bn at the same time in 2022.
The group paid $3.8m of income tax, which resulted in a loss net of $3.8m compared to $1.17bn the year before. When a $2.2m foreign exchange gain is included, the net loss drops to $1.6m compared to $1.16bn in last year.
The adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter increased by 3.7% on an annual basis to $107.8m.
