Thursday, March 30, 2006

Independent Online on Neteller

Time for Neteller investors to cash in some chips
Edited by Micheal Jivkov
Published: 29 March 2006

The awesome growth at the online money transfer group Neteller, one of the biggest companies on the Alternative Investment Market, continues. Yesterday it unveiled a set of full-year figures which can only be described as outstanding. Sales rose 108 per cent to $171m (£98m), pre-tax profits soared 114 per cent to $98m while the all important cash-flow figure jumped 49 per cent to $114m. Is there no end in sight to the company's growth?

Its chief executive, Ron Martin, says not for a long while. He points out that in North America, where Neteller gets more than 80 per cent of business, sales remain strong and continue to rise. Meanwhile, in Europe and Asia, where the company's operations are in their infancy, revenues are on a steep upward trajectory. To give these an extra push Neteller plans to launch services in four European languages.

The group's key customer base is online gaming ­ it provides an ' e-wallet' for gamblers to use when playing poker and other games via the web. Eighty-five per cent of revenues relate in some way to the industry and its popularity has fuelled the bulk of Neteller's financial success. Here the company competes against the credit card companies s"

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