Sales lift for GFG

GFG Group, a New Zealand-based vendor of payments software and services to banks and mobile network operators, yesterday sought some publicity for some basic sales (rather than financial) data.

Six month sales to September 2009 "are on track to achieve double digit growth of 19 per cent" for the full year, according to a media release, and up from sales growth last year of 16 per cent.

The financial crisis means that GFG, while achieving reasonable sales growth, is not fully realising the aggressive growth plans behind the most recent of its three rounds of venture capital investment.

Sales of US$20 million remain the near-term target, though it might take GFG until  2011 or later to achieve that, with plenty of aspiration for sales growth in developing cards markets to exploit.

Built on software and ideas first developed in the early 1990s, GFG's solutions are used by providers for 125 million people across 39 countries, according to the media release.

The firm these days is run by Grant Halverson, who managed the Australian operations of Diners Club in Australia in the 1990s.

One of GFG's better markets is in the Philippines where it supports the fast growing payments business of one of the top two mobile phone operators.

Two New Zealand venture capital funds own half of GFG: Direct Capital and Endeavour Capital, with founders and staff owning the remainder.