OzForex selling on more than 20 times forecast earnings
International payment company OzForex will have a market capitalisation of A$480 million when it lists on the Australian Securities Exchange next month. The company issued a prospectus yesterday, offering 218.7 million shares in its initial public offering.OzForex plans to raise A$439.4 million through the offer. Existing owners will retain 20 million shares. Shareholders that will sell into the IPO include Macquarie Group, which currently holds a 19.9 per cent stake, Accel Partners and the Carlyle Group.The offer price is 21.7 times forecast 2013/14 earnings per share. The indicative dividend yield, assuming a payout ratio of 70 to 80 per cent, is between three and 3.4 per cent.OzForex provides online international payment services for consumer and business clients. The company's competitive advantage is lower pricing than the retail offerings of many banks.The company operates in Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada. It is also building businesses in the United States, Europe and Asia.Consumers use the service for international travel, making mortgage payments in another country, paying rent for international students, repatriating savings after working overseas and investing overseas.Business customers use it to pay foreign currency invoices, to manage international payrolls and retirement benefits, to accept payments from overseas customers and to hedge currency exposures.OzForex made a net profit of $17.1 million in 2012/13 and is forecasting a pro forma net profit of $18.6 million for 2013/14.The number of active clients has increased by 51.7 per cent over the past two years, and the number of transactions has increased by 46.8 per cent.One interesting feature of the prospectus is that the level of share ownership of international payment providers is limited in a number of jurisdictions, including the UK and Hong Kong, and in 22 US states.