Monitise Eyes Growth As Banks Turn to Mobiles
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Mobile banking and payments company Monitise, Tuesday posted a wider full-year pretax loss but said it was confident of securing new business with both banks and mobile operators.
The UK-based company, which provides a mobile banking interface for the likes of HSBC Holdings, Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Vodafone Group, said it has strong momentum, an excellent competitive position and compelling prospects.
Monitise, reporting its first results since its demerger from technology consultancy Morse PLC, reported an annual loss before tax of GBP8.7 million, compared to a loss of GBP3.3 million in the nine months to June 30, 2006.
The firm said it had made strong progress in the UK and its international rollout was gaining traction.
"The foundations are now laid, the aim is to keep signing up banks and press on with our international expansion," chief executive Alastair Lukies told Dow Jones Newswires.
By autumn the company's MONILINK service, through which consumers can make financial transactions over their mobile phones, will be accessible by 35% of all current account holders in the UK.
Currently users can check their account balance, make payments and top-up their mobile phones on the service but Monitise said it plans to add more functions.
Over the course of the year Monitise signed a joint venture with Metavante in the USA, signed an agreement in Germany with T-Systems, the information technology services unit of Deutsche Telekom, and other deals with BT Global Services, the IT business of BT Group, for the Gulf States, and with Global Financial Consultants for Australia.
Lukies said the company is getting more inquiries from banks as they realize the potential of the mobile phone as an additional banking channel.
"Mobile banking is now part of banks' strategies - they realize if it isn't they'll be left behind," he said.
Monitise demerged from Morse in June and raised GBP20.2 million via a placing.
At 0910 GMT shares were flat at 13 pence in a broadly lower U.K. market.
-By Peter Stiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9373; peter.stiff@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
Posted to the site on 21st August 2007
