(Alliance News) - Boku Inc on Tuesday said it now expects its full-year results to be "slightly" ahead of expectations after reporting a jump in interim revenue, but added that its profit declined on higher costs.

The provider of mobile payment solutions with offices in London and San Francisco said revenue in the six months ended June 30 grew by 26% to USD38.2 million, from USD30.3 million a year before. This was driven by rising transaction volumes from its "major global merchants", it said.

Boku also cited a 32% increase in monthly active users to 61.2 million in the first half from 46.3 million in the same period a year prior.

Pretax profit, however, fell by 33% to USD2.4 million from USD3.6 million a year prior as its cost of sales grew to USD1.3 million.

Boku declared no interim dividend, unchanged from the first half of 2022.

Looking ahead, Boku said it expects its full-year results to be "slightly ahead of its previous expectations."

Chief Executive Officer Jon Prideaux commented: "All parts of the business are performing well, and ahead of our internal budget at the time of the capital markets day earlier this year. The triple digit growth from wallets and account to account payments now means that these newer payment methods have come from next to nothing this time last year to account for nearly 20% of our revenue.

"With more merchants poised to adopt the newer payment methods and strong momentum from existing live connections, the full year picture is looking very healthy."

Shares in Boku were up 2.2% at 145.10 pence each in London on Tuesday afternoon.

By Sabrina Penty, Alliance News reporter

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