Adyen Sees Strong Growth in POS and North American Volumes

Best known as an online payment processor, Adyen N.V.’s point-of-sale processing volume in 2018’s first half more than doubled in a year, the Amsterdam-based firm reported Wednesday.

In its first earnings report since its June initial public offering, Adyen, which has U.S. headquarters in San Francisco, reported processed volume of €70 billion ($81.2 billion), up 43% from €48.9 billion a year earlier. POS volume in this year’s first six months totaled €6.6 billion ($7.66 billion), or 9.4% of the total, and was 120% higher than the €3 billion in the year-ago period. At that time, POS volume was only 6.1% of the total. 

Adyen sees what it calls “unified commerce” as a key growth driver as merchants look for multi-faceted payment services.

“In the first half of the year we saw a continuation of the transformation of commerce, leading to an increased merchant focus on accepting payments across channels and geographies,” chief executive Pieter van der Does and chief financial officer Ingo Uytdehaage said in a letter to shareholders. “This trend, coupled with changing shopper behavior, the rise of mobile-payment methods, and the increasing pressure on retailers’ operations, highlighted the benefits of our single platform, and consequently driven significant growth in the first half of 2018.”

Growth main came from existing merchants, including include Uber, Netflix, Facebook, Spotify, Etsy, Vodafone, Sephora, Tory Burch, L’Oréal, and Booking.com. But new merchants also contributed, including eBay, Valve, and Dunkin’ Donuts, the company reported.

Adyen said it is moving into new merchant segments, including restaurant chains, hospitality, and grocery stores. “The common denominator across these verticals is an increased demand for shopper-friendly mobile payment methods,” the letter says.

First-half volume from North America more than doubled to €22.1 billion ($25.6 billion) from €9.1 billion a year earlier. Europe remains Adyen’s biggest region, with €102.7 billion ($119.2 billion) in volume during 2018’s first six months, up 52% from the year earlier’s €67.6 billion. Some €16.5 billion ($19.1 billion) in volume came from Latin America, up 59%, while €14.6 billion ($16.9 billion) came from the Asia-Pacific region, a 147% increase.

The big volume increases drove net revenues to €156.4 million ($181.5 million), up 67% from €93.5 million in 2017’s first half. Net income for the period was €48.2 million ($55.9 million), a 75% increase from €27.6 million a year earlier.

Adyen’s shares, which trade on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange, have been a fintech favorite this summer, closing Wednesday at €568 ($659), up nearly 4% from Tuesday’s close. The stock is now 30% above its €438 close on June 14, its opening day.