Network International Sees a 33% Growth in Revenue in Q1 2022

Network International has announced its financial results for Q1 2022.

Following are some of the highlights:

• Fast growth in direct-to-merchant Total Processed Volume (TPV) across the UAE and Jordan, with Q1 domestic volumes up 22% y/y (20% vs 2019) and international volumes up 120% y/y (9% vs. 2019).
• Continued record levels of merchant signups, which will soon be further supported by the launch of fully automated onboarding for UAE merchants.
• New capabilities launched for merchants, including Amazon Payment Services in the UAE, Buy Now Pay Later and merchant lending in Jordan, whilst also introducing Merchant data reports in Jordan.
• DPO saw a large number of key merchant wins and signed an agreement with RCS Group, a Network customer, enabling over 2 million RCS retail store card holders to pay for goods at DPO merchants.

“We have started the year strongly with 33% y/y Q1 revenue growth; supporting our ambition to be the fastest growing and most innovative customer centric payments business in the Middle East and Africa. Our home market of the UAE is seeing a continued improvement in consumer spending and increasing numbers of international visitors, driving accelerated growth in both domestic and international TPV. This has been supported by customer wins and capability launches, including becoming the first acquirer to offer Buy-Now-Pay-Later in Jordan. DPO has seen good volume growth of 33% y/y, as well as the benefit of another cross-selling arrangement with an existing Network customer. I am also pleased to share that our market entry into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is progressing well. It is encouraging to see our new
processing customer, signed only two months ago, already in the process of onboarding. Overall, the growth in the period is evidence of successful delivery on our strategic objectives and a solid foundation for the year ahead.”

Nandan Mer, Chief Executive Officer, Network International

“We saw particularly strong performance in the UAE and Jordan; where domestic TPV (which represents spending from consumers domiciled in the region) has remained resilient throughout the period, with robust y/y growth in February and March; and international TPV (which represents consumer spending by overseas visitors) was particularly strong and reflective of the ongoing improvement in confidence from tourists and events such as Dubai EXPO, which attracted over 20 million visitors. Whilst growth levels partly reflect a prior year period impacted by COVID-19, Q1 2021 domestic TPV and international TPV were still 20% and 9% ahead of pre-pandemic Q1 2019. We saw healthy growth in online TPV, up 46% y/y in Q1 (excluding Government & airline TPV); whilst SME volumes were also strong and supportive of take
rates, reflecting our continued investment and focus on these two strategic segments.

Following a strong end to 2021 we continued to successfully secure a large number of new merchant wins, including Emirates Hospital Group, The Residences at Caesars Palace, Bluewater Meraas and Landmark Group, many of which were won from competitors; as well as several new merchants from the new opening of Dubai Hills Mall. The pace of new SME signings remains encouraging as our focus within the SME segment continues to pay off, with monthly wins progressing well through the quarter, up over 10% sequentially in March vs. February alone. We expect our strength in the SME sector to be further supported by the launch of a fully digital onboarding process for SMEs in the coming weeks.

Excerpt From the Report