Pushpay shares drop 4.8% after $100M bookbuild completed

Pushpay shares drop 4.8% after $100M bookbuild completed

By Sophie Boot

June 19 (BusinessDesk) - Pushpay Holdings shares dropped 4.8 percent after the mobile payment app company completed a $100 million bookbuild to let executive director Eliot Crowther exit the firm he co-founded.

The 24.8 million shares were sold at $4.04 apiece. The stock last traded at $4.37 on the NZX yesterday, down 1.1 percent before being halted, and fell to $4.16 shortly after that halt was lifted this afternoon. Settlement for transfer is due on Thursday.

The bookbuild was oversubscribed, with bids subject to scaling, and got offers from 19 institutional investors across New Zealand, Australia and the US, Pushpay said. Within yesterday's announcement, the Auckland-domiciled, US-headquartered company said it has dropped plans to list in the US this year, as it has "largely achieved" the main goals of doing so with Crowther's exit improving liquidity without the cost of a market listing.

"The board will reassess the need for a US market listing periodically," it said yesterday. "Pushpay has seen a substantial increase in liquidity and a wider range of institutional investors join its share register, including US-based institutions."

Pushpay still expects to break even on a cash flow basis before the end of the year, and while it doesn't need extra capital right now, "it may consider acquisitions in the future which would serve to further strengthen its existing solutions," it said.

The company narrowed its loss to $23.3 million in the year ended March 31, from $25.3 million a year earlier, while revenue rose to $70.2 million from $34.3 million, in line with its forecast. It is focusing on medium and large churches in North America, which it sees as an opportunity to generate US$1 billion of annual revenue. When announcing its results last month, chief executive Chris Heaslip said the company expects the number of deals it's closing and deal size to accelerate over the coming year.

(BusinessDesk)

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