- humm group’s (HUM) shares have slumped as the buy now, pay later (BNPL) player reported dulled performance metrics from the half-year
- Despite a surge in new customers, transaction volumes fell 7.4 per cent on the previous period, due to COVID-19 induced restrictions on spending in the travel and hospitality sector
- As a result, gross profits fell 4.1 per cent to clock in at $174.3 million as the company’s card segment took a hit
- Looking ahead, humm says it will remain prudent in monitoring impacts from expected changes government stimulus and has elected to forgo shelling out an interim dividend
- humm shares have taken a hit following the announcement, trading 15.2 per cent lower at $1.12 each
humm group’s (HUM) shares have slumped as the buy now, pay later (BNPL) player reported dulled performance metrics from the half-year.
According to the latest summation, humm grew its active customer numbers by 40.4 per cent over the interim ended December 31 amid the roll out of its new products across Australia and New Zealand.
Despite the influx in users and app downloads, transaction volumes fell 7.4 per cent to $1.25 billion, as the company’s card segment took a hit from COVID-19 induced restrictions in the travel and hospitality sector.
As a result, gross income decreased from $240.7 million to $225.2 million, marking a 6.4 per cent decrease on 2019, stemming predominantly from a 32.8 per cent fall in receivables from its Australian cards segment.
Overall, gross profits have fallen 4.1 per cent to clock in at $174.3 million, while statutory net profit after tax (NPAT) was up 15.9 per cent on the prior corresponding period to $38.6 million.
The latter performance indicator spurred by reduced operating expenses as HUM looked to cut underlying costs and streamline operations.
The company has indicated it will not be paying an interim dividend for the period, citing uncertainties surrounding COVID-19 and the expected removal of government stimulus.
Looking forward humm has flagged expansions into the U.K. and Canadian markets, declaring the launch of its BNPL product for the second half of the financial year.
humm says it will continue to take a “prudent” approach by monitoring the potential impacts and losses from changes to government stimulus but remains “well-provisioned” for the future.
As a result, the company expects 2H21 cash NPAT to be lower than 1H21.
humm shares have taken a hit following the announcement, trading 15.2 per cent lower at $1.12 each at 11:35 am AEDT.