ASX Earnings Wrap: MoneyMe returns to profit, share price surges 30pc

It’s the half yearly season again as the ASX market announcements page becomes increasingly flooded with earnings lodgements.

To save you the trouble of trudging through it all, we’ve wrapped up the highlights from some of the reports that caught our eye.

MoneyME (ASX:MME)

Highlights for Q2 FY23:

Statutory NPAT of >$8m for H1 FY23, versus $19m loss in H1 FY23 and $34m loss in the pcp
Record gross revenue of >$117m for H1 FY23, up >143% on pcp
Record gross revenue of >$60m for Q2 FY23, up >140% on pcp

In Q4, MONEYME’s shift in focus from high growth to an earlier realisation of cash returns has resulted in a return to statutory profits ahead of target.

This accelerated return to statutory profitability was also achieved through the realisation of cost synergies from the SocietyOne acquisition and related reductions in sales and marketing expenses.

The company reported record gross revenues, and continued to see strong flows with gross revenue of greater than $60m in Q2, a huge 140% increase on pcp.

As a result, MME has updated its gross revenue guidance from >$200m to >$220m for the full year.

The group’s core operating expenses continue to be reduced in Q2, driven by economies of scale and the realisation of substantial cost synergies from migrating SocietyOne’s technology onto MONEYME’s proprietary technology platform, Horizon.

While gross customer receivables remain steady, the credit risk profile of MONEYME’s portfolio has also continued to improve compared to the pcp.

This reflects a strong focus on credit risk management in response to the uncertain macroeconomic environment by focusing on high credit quality customers.

Unrestricted cash was $16m and trust undrawn funding capacity was >$400m at 31 December.

Looking ahead, management expects to benefit from operating leverage in the second half to deliver a strong statutory profit result for FY23.

Creso Pharma (ASX:CPH)

Highlights for Q4 FY22:

Q4 revenue of $2.571m, up 25% YoY
Total FY22 unaudited revenue of $8.95m, a record year
A 32% reduction in cash burn from operations from FY21 to FY22

The rise in Creso’s revenue for the quarter was underpinned by ongoing sales through Mernova, Sierra Sage Herbs and Creso Pharma Switzerland.

The proposed acquisition of Health House International (ASX:HHI) highlights the company’s ongoing strategy to leverage growth through value accretive M&A to unlock cross-selling opportunities.

During the quarter, HHI generated $5.4 million in cash receipts, a 17% increase on pcp buoyed by a 22% growth in its Australian medical cannabis distribution business.

Combining Creso’s revenue and HHI’s cash receipts as a proxy for revenue, unaudited pro forma adjusted Q4 revenue totals $8m, or $32m on a last quarter annualised basis.

Creso also considerably reduced its cash used in operating activities from $5.29m in the previous quarter to $3.43m in Q4.

This 35% decrease in expenses is the result of the company’s continued focus on cash management, and the implementation of shared services across all of its operating units.

It also demonstrates management’s ability and core objective to simultaneously grow revenues and decrease costs at the same time.

Multiple operational milestones were achieved across the group, highlighting Creso’s strategy drive to business unit profitability through ongoing expansion opportunities.

“Our core objective as a business is to achieve profitability as soon as practically possible, and demonstrating a clear ability to grow revenues while simultaneously reducing costs is a strong vindication of the work we have done and the work we continue to focus on every day,” says Creso CEO, William Lay.

“We enter 2023 with a diverse platform of revenue generating businesses that can benefit from shared services and revenue synergies.”

IOUPay (ASX:IOU)

Highlights for December quarter:

BNPL transactions were $4.7m in Total Transaction Value (TTV), delivering an income margin of 6.5%
Record monthly Mobile Banking transaction volumes for both November and December
New Bridging Loan product developed in collaboration with investment partner IDSB is to be funded by a debt facility

TTV of $4.7m was actually lower than the prior September quarter given the very strong result for July. Over the prior 12 months to the reporting date, the company has written a total TTV of $31.5m.

Net Transaction Revenues (NTR) for the quarter was $308k, and $1.8m over the 12-month period.

The myIOU income margin of 6.5% is above the average margin over the past 12 months, reflecting preferences for the six payment plan (paid over five months).

During the quarter, IOU has been finalising launch preparations for its next major product development initiative with a new, short term financing solution for business-to-business purchases.

This initiative provides a simple-to-use online funding tool for business customers to process B2B payments efficiently, with cash flow benefits for both purchaser and supplier.

Additionally, the company progressed negotiations with a leading non-bank financial institution (NBFI) for a bespoke debt facility planned to provide 100% funding ($1.7m) of the new Bridging Loan product being developed with I.Destinasi Sdn Bhd (IDSB).

Progress was also made on the company’s technology projects, which reinforce IOU’s ‘best-in-class’ brand positioning.

Projects to roll out or upgrade include myIOU 2.0 Phase 3, myIOU Merchant App and Experian – which are ongoing or being completed.

In the quarter, IOU inked a new strategic partnership agreement with Simplepay Gateway, with the myIOU already going live on the senangPay payments platform.

IOU says that looking forward, it is positioned for growth and expansion into new markets by leveraging its brand leadership, innovative product development and its secure, scalable technology platform.

The roadmap for 2023 includes a number of portfolio expansion initiatives supported through developing access to non-dilutive capital from debt capital markets.

Bridge SaaS (ASX:BGE)

Highlights for December quarter:

Renewed major agreement with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) for the next three years.
Key leadership appointments made to drive growth
Successful completion of $4.5m IPO and listing on the ASX

During the quarter, newly listed Bridge Saas renewed its agreement with DEWR for the next three years.

Bridge is currently one of a limited number of third-party IT vendors with a deed in place and accredited to provide software services to employment services providers.

The company’s accreditation now extends to 14 Australian Government programs operating within the DEWR.

Product enhancements to its Employment Services software made during the quarter resulted in existing customers purchasing additional functionality and bespoke reporting features, adding to revenue.

Bridge says a significant portion of the $4.5m funds raised from the IPO round are to be applied towards sales, marketing and customer service, along with developers and IT related costs for the first two years following Bridge’s ASX listing.

During the quarter, Bridge also commenced the necessary key leadership appointments to enable the company to leverage its first-mover opportunity in the employment services space.

This includes the appointments of a new chief product & technology officer, and head of sales, as well as the head of operations.

Bridge believes there will be an increasing trend for providers to deliver multiple government programs including NDIS and aged care.

In order to service these much larger market verticals, providers will require IT systems capable of servicing multiple programs like those offered by Bridge.

Bridge says the company has a unique opportunity to leverage its enterprise management software across multiple government programs.

Nanollose (ASX:NC6)

Highlights for December quarter:

Multiple partners successfully complete fabric production utilising Nullarbor-20TM fibre
Paradise Textiles convert 135kg of Nullarbor-20 fibre into several types of yarn
Leading denim producer Orta also manufactured sample denim fabrics containing Nanollose’s Nullarbor-20TM fibre

During the quarter, Nanollose continued to advance initiatives with its collaborator network to progress and complete textile production.

Along with existing partner, Paradise Textiles, the company successfully converted 135kg of Nullarbor-20 fibre into several types of yarn, and subsequently knitted these yarns into a variety of fabrics.

Several of the fabrics were combinations of Nullarbor-20 and other fibres to produce blended fabrics, known to be in high demand with potential partners and throughout the textile industry.

Paradise is the material science and innovation hub of the Alpine Group, a global end to end textile and apparel manufacturing leader, working to make fashion fit for the future.

Existing collaborator, Orta, also successfully manufactured high-quality denim fabric incorporating the company’s Nullarbor-20 fibre.

Orta is a global leader in the development, manufacture and supply of sustainable denim. The group is based in Turkey and has a total production capacity of 40 million metres of denim per annum.

Orta supplies denim to luxury brands including Armani, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney and Isabel Marant, leading denim brands including Levi’s, Lee, Wrangler, Tommy Hilfiger, and Calvin Klein.

Both Orta and Nanollose are now actively seeking to pursue additional collaboration opportunities with increased volumes, and the company will provide additional updates as they materialise.

Looking forward and following the continued positive results of textile production with Nullarbor-20, Nanollose says it will continue to focus on the following objectives for the current period and beyond.

This includes further distribution of fabric samples to brands and partners for appraisal and test garment production.

Nannolose will also undertake a second pilot spin of Nullarbor fibres with Birla Cellulose at increased scale and microbial cellulose content, which is expected to generate the company’s first revenues.

Dimerix (ASX:DXB)

Highlights for Q4 FY22:

Net operating cash outflows of $375k
$6 million R&D incentive received
Cash of $5.7 million at the end of the quarter

The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company made progress with its lead program, ACTION3 Phase 3 clinical trial in focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) kidney disease during the quarter, with the first 72 patients (Part 1) recruited in the trial.

The single Phase 3 trial in FSGS patients has two interim analysis points built in that are designed to capture evidence of proteinuria and kidney function (eGFR slope) during the trial, aimed at generating sufficient evidence to support accelerated marketing approval.

Part 1 interim analysis of the trial data will conclude once 72 patients have completed 35 weeks treatment.

Dimerix ended the quarter with cash of $5.7 million (compared to $6.1 million at 30 September 2022), with net operating cash outflows for the period of $375,000 (compared to $3.5 million net operating cash outflows in the prior quarter).

The company said that cash outflow for the period predominately related to clinical and manufacturing costs related to the Phase 3 FSGS trial, offset by $6 million received in relation to the FY22 R&D Tax Incentive.

Share prices today:

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While MoneyMe, Nanollose, Dimerix, Bridge SaaS, Creso Pharma and IOUPay are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.