Buy Now Pay Later provider Afterpay is mulling the prospect of a US stockmarket listing in an effort to raise more equity capital from international investors.
The company announced the possible move in a business update filed to the ASX on Tuesday.
“Afterpay is currently working with external advisors to explore options for a US listing given the US market is now the largest contributor to our business and is expected to continue to grow strongly,” the company told investors in the update.
“While Afterpay intends to remain an Australian headquartered company, our shareholder base is increasingly becoming more globally focused. A US listing would further accommodate this growing interest.
“There is no timeline set for a board decision on a US listing and any listing would be subject to market conditions, approval by a US exchange and satisfying a number of other customary listing prerequisites,” the statement said.
Afterpay also reported a surge in aggregate sales volumes for the March 2021 quarter, although growth in Australia and New Zealand appears to be slowing.
Underlying group sales soared by 104 per cent to A$5.2 billion in the March quarter compared to the same period in 2020.
The bulk of the growth was recorded in the company’s new offshore markets – the US and the UK, where sales volumes increased by 167 per cent and 246 per cent respectively.
The US now accounts for half of all Afterpay sales following breakneck growth over the last 12 months.
Sales in Australia and New Zealand expanded by only 48 per cent to $2.1 billion as the crowding BNPL industry and attendant price competition eroded the company’s market share.
Afterpay appears to be expanding activity in Australia and New Zealand mostly through existing customers increasing their use of the company’s BNPL service.
The company is finding it more challenging to attract new shoppers in its home market.
Growth in Australian and NZ customer numbers slowed in the 12 months to the end of March to 9 per cent compared to 18 per cent for the corresponding period last year.
It’s a markedly different story in the UK and the US where’s Afterpay’s customer bases more than doubled in the 12 months to the end of March.
Despite reporting another wave of eye-catching sales results the company did not indicate when it expected to deliver a bottom-line profit.
While several institutional investors such as BlackRock have been pruning their exposures to Afterpay in recent months, the company is continuing to attract support from others.
Vanguard revealed on Tuesday that it had acquired an additional 3.6 million shares in the company.
The global fund manager now holds a 6.7 per cent interest in Afterpay, up from 5.6 per cent in August last year.