The board of Novatti are understood to have cut off funding for International Bank of Australia, and are even considering a return of the restricted banking license granted late last year.
They may not need to, with a takeover offer for International Bank of Australia in the works, Banking Day has learned.
IBA was, a year ago, a centrepiece of Novatti’s ambitions to broaden its wings and build a pure play payments bank, similar in concept to Clearpay in the UK.
But with losses mounting and the budget for the company to become cash flow positive postponed, Mark Healy, the new CEO, is stamping his authority on the strategy.
There will be “a deeper focus on full P&L performance rather than revenue growth,” Healy told a stockbroker briefing three months ago.
The ASX-listed fintech reported a loss after tax of A$26.5 million over the year to June 2023, up from a loss of $16.6 million in FY2022.
Accumulated losses of the company were $83.5 million at June, while it reported net assets of $15.5 million.
The top line shows the company is making progress, with growth in revenue of 20 per cent to $39 million over the year.
Gross transaction value increased 46 per cent on FY22, “to exceed $4.2 billion”.
Novatti were always going to have to raise fresh capital via a placement to get IBA up and running, but market cynicism has continued to erode its share price, narrowing its options.
Listed at 20 cents in early 2016, Novatti’s shares peaked at 64 cents in mid 2021. The shares closed yesterday at 11 cents, giving it a market capitalisation of $37 million.