Etranzact PLC, a business to business provider of technology and mobile payment solutions to financial services firms said its third quarter net profit for the year fell by 16%.
Net profit for the mobile payment company was down to NGN179 million from NGN213 million declared last year.
However, the third quarter was better for Etranzact when compared to its last year’s performance in gross revenue. Gross revenue for the quarter rose to NGN2,5 billion compared to NGN2,2 billion recorded the year before.
Cost is also an issue and for an IT company, it is not expected that cost should increase dramatically. Moreover cost of sales for the company was grew to NGN1,8 billion from NGN1.5 billion the year before.
The company has grown its asset to NGn5,9 billion compared to NGN5,8 billion the year before. Another positive news for the company’s shareholders is that its total liabilities has been cut down to NGN2,2 billion from NGN2,3 billion in 2015.
Part of the challenge facing the company is its inability to get a serious foothold in the business to consumer side of the business. Interswitch Group, a key and bigger competitor to Etranzact PLC has the largest share of the B2B and the B2C side of the market.
For Etranzact to taper its falling profit, it will need to get more creative and disrupt the consumer segment of the mobile payment segment, which the company has not shown enough innovation to convince investors that it can really compete in.
Interswitch Group announced that it is planning an IPO for next year. The company has also entered the Eastern African markets with its mobile, web and card payment products.
