UPDATE: Pushpay jumps 50% in first trade on NZAX

UPDATE: Pushpay jumps 50% in first trade as handful of shares change hands

(Updates with share price movement)

By Suze Metherell

Aug. 14 (BusinessDesk) - Shares of Pushpay jumped as much as 50 percent as investors snapped up the handful of shares on offer after the mobile payment app company's compliance listing on the NZX Alternative Index.

The stock rose to $1.50 from its listing price of $1, as 467 of the 50 million on issue changed hands, before slipping to $1.48 in a second trade of 2,033 shares, according to Reuters data. The shares got off to a slow start on its compliance listing, meaning no new funds were raised, with chief executive Chris Heaslip tweeting there weren't any willing sellers, despite an earlier bid of $1.33.

The Auckland-based company raised $9 million in new equity in June among private investors, issuing shares at $1 each and valuing the company at $50 million. The capital raise was underwritten by cornerstone shareholder Christopher and Banks Private Equity, an investment vehicle for the Huljich family.

According to its listing documents, Pushpay had a $1.6 million loss in the year ended March 31, widening its $561,000 loss from the previous year. Annual sales were $328,000, from $8,000 a year earlier. The company didn't provide prospective earnings, but said to date it had raised over $15.6 million in capital, with $9.6 million cash in the bank at the time of listing.

Last December, Pushpay raised $5.1 million in two tranches, which saw the Huljich family take a 23 percent stake. Established in 2011, Pushpay last year also attracted $1 million in backing from Douglas Kemsley, the Hamilton-based former chairman of internet and cloud services provider Maxnet, and a $253,000 development grant from the government’s Callaghan Innovation Fund.

The company said it intends to migrate to the NZX main board when the stock market operator phases out the alternative index to be replaced by its 'new market'.

Harmos Horton Lusk sponsored the company in its NZAX listing.

(BusinessDesk)

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