Boku (LSE: BOKU) reported revenue of $63.3 million for the first half of 2025, up 34% from the same period last year, as the London-listed payments company extends beyond its traditional carrier billing business into faster-growing digital wallet connections.
Boku Revenue Jumps 34% as Digital Wallets Drive Growth Beyond Carrier Billing
The company said adjusted EBITDA reached $21.8 million with margins of 34.3%, up from 30.1% a year earlier. Operating profit swung to $11.9 million from a loss of $396,000 in the first half of 2024.
Revenue from digital wallets and account-to-account payment schemes climbed 89% to $22.5 million, now representing 36% of total revenue compared with 25% in the prior year. The company cautioned that roughly $3 million of first-half revenue came from launch-phase pricing arrangements that won't repeat in the second half.
Excluding that one-time boost, underlying revenue grew 27%, a figure Boku expects to match or exceed for the full year. CEO Stuart Neal, who took over in January 2024, said the company remains on track to deliver organic revenue growth exceeding 20% annually and maintain adjusted EBITDA margins above 30%.
Key Financial Metrics H1 2025
Metric | H1 2025 | H1 2024 | Change |
Total Revenue | $63.3m | $47.3m | +34% |
Adjusted EBITDA | $21.8m | $14.2m | +53% |
Operating Profit/(Loss) | $11.9m | $-0.4m | +3,075% |
Monthly Active Users (June) | 95.5m | 79.6m | +20% |
Total Payment Volume | $7.4bn | $5.8bn | +28% |
Own Cash | $87.3m | $75.2m | +16% |
Carrier Billing Still Growing, But Slowing
Direct carrier billing, which lets consumers charge purchases to their mobile phone bills, generated combined revenue of $40.8 million from payments and bundling services. The payments portion grew 9% while bundling, which helps merchants distribute apps through carrier channels, jumped 70% to $6.6 million.
The company added 60 new connections between merchants and payment methods during the half, and brought on new clients including what it described as a leading digital design platform and a global entertainment company. Monthly active users in June reached 95.5 million, up 20% from a year earlier, while total payment volumes processed through the network increased 28% to $7.4 billion.
Boku's take rate, the percentage of payment volume it captures as revenue, edged up to 0.85% from 0.81%, largely reflecting the launch-phase pricing. Stripping that out, underlying take rates held steady.
Cash Position Strengthens Despite Buybacks
The company ended June with $87.3 million in own cash, up 9% from year-end despite spending $12.3 million to repurchase 5.8 million shares during the period. Total group cash balances, which include funds held for merchants and issuers, reached $191.9 million.
Boku now includes $1.4 million of foreign exchange costs related to currency conversion services in its adjusted EBITDA calculation, a change it says better aligns revenue with associated costs. While that methodology shift dampens the EBITDA comparison, the company said full-year adjusted EBITDA should still meet market expectations of $39.3 million on revenue of $126.7 million.
The San Francisco-incorporated company, which maintains its headquarters in London, operates offices across 15 countries including the United States, India, Brazil, China, Estonia, Germany, Singapore, and Japan.
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