Infibeam Avenues Q3 net profit up 27%; announces 1:1 bonus share issue

Infibeam Avenues on Thursday reported a 27 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 14.99 crore for the three months ended December 2020.

The company has also announced issue of one bonus share for every one equity share held.

It had posted a net profit (excluding share of associates) at Rs 11.8 crore in the year-ago period, Infibeam Avenues said in a statement.

Its consolidated income from operations grew 47 per cent to Rs 227.8 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 155.4 crore in the year-ago period.

On a sequential basis, net profit (excluding share of associates) was higher by 95 per cent from about Rs 7.67 crore in the September 2020 quarter while revenue was up about 53 per cent from Rs 148.7 crore.

"We had the best quarter ever with 53 per cent revenue growth, quarter on quarter, and 47 per cent compared to same quarter last year. Performance was strong across both our business segments ie Digital Payments and Enterprise Software Platforms, on the back of robust growth in operating metrics," Infibeam Avenues Managing Director Vishal Mehta said.

He added that the performance is "particularly noteworthy" given the persisting macro environment.

"Payment processing value of Rs 27,916 crores is highest-ever in a quarter...," he said.

Hiren Padhya, Chief Financial Officer of Infibeam Avenues, said the company continues to maintain and accelerate its Enterprise Digital Payment and Platform businesses growth both in domestic and international markets.

"During the quarter, the company has registered all round performance across its digital offerings," Padhya said.

The company has announced issue of one bonus share for every one equity share held by the shareholders as on record date that will be announced later.

The bonus issue of equity shares is subject to the approval of the shareholders and other applicable statutory and regulatory approvals, as may be required, it said.

The company also said Osia has withdrawn its proposal to acquire 51 per cent stake in ILPL, its wholly-owned subsidiary.

In September last year, Infibeam Avenues had announced divestment of 51 per cent share in ILPL for Rs 19 crore.

"...as informed by Osia to ILPL, due to macroeconomic and their short-term financial commitments, Osia is unable to fulfill its obligations under the Term Sheet. Accordingly, Osia has withdrawn its proposal to acquire 51 per cent ownership with control in ILPL," Infibeam Avenues said.

It added that with Osia's withdrawal, ILPL continues to remain a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.

Providing an update on its investment in So Hum Bharat Digital Payments, Infibeam said the company board has reconsidered the matter and approved acquiring 50.5 per cent stake instead of the earlier approved 33.33 per cent.

As a result, So Hum will become a subsidiary of the company.

So Hum is in the business of setting up, managing and operating new payment systems, especially in the retail space comprising but not limited to ATMs, white label PoS and any other businesses.

Infibeam said it continued to see strong merchant registration in the third quarter (20 per cent above the daily average in the September quarter) and activated record number of merchants.

"Q3 marked the highest amount of payment processing ever achieved by the company. We processed payments worth Rs 27,916 crore; an average of over Rs 9,200 crore monthly compared to Q2 daily average of Rs 8000 crores. This corresponds to 23 per cent jump quarter-on-quarter and 76 per cent jump year-on-year," it said.

The company exited December month at a rolling annual run-rate of about USD 15 billion.

The December quarter, which includes festive season (Dusshera-Diwali) and holiday season (Christmas), contributed to sharp increase in payment processing.