Results: Sezzle reveals 16,000 users added per week since ASX debut

Investors seemed to have been anticipating big things from Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) in the lead up to the release of its first-half results, given that its share price was bid some 5.8% higher during today’s trading session.

It looks as if such bullishness may very well have been justified, with Sezzle delivering a stellar set of growth figures when it revealed its financial and operating performance during 2019’s first-half.

Core amongst these standout figures was the revelation that since its ASX debut, the company has added an impressive 16,000 customers a week.

2019 interim results at a glance

Sezzle Inc’s first earnings report since listing as a public company looks to be an impressive one, as the company aims to make good use of its IPO capital.

Here, Sezzle’s CEO Charlie Youakim pointed out that already this IPO capital has:

‘Helped us accelerate our rapid expansion into our current North American markets. We have begun the second half of the year strongly as we continue to build on the momentum that we've already established.’

This rapid expansion was clearly evidenced in the company’s operating results: as active merchants using the Sezzle platform soared, hitting 5,048 to close out the June quarter – up from just 3,321 in March.

Better still, customer numbers climbed almost 60% and currently sit at 429,898, as the power of a fast-growing ‘network effect’ comes into focus.

For perspective, Sezzle added a staggering 66,409 customers to its ecosystem in the last month alone.

Speaking of these figures, Sezzle’s CEO commented that the first-half of 2019 proved to be a successful one for the company. With Mr Youakim pointing out that:

‘We've seen a strong increase in customer and merchant accounts in addition to our revenue growth. We believe that Sezzle is on the leading edge of an international instalment payments mega-trend that has only just begun to take shape.’

Key financials in focus

Besides impressive user and merchant growth, Sezzle's key financial metrics also rose in 1H19.

For example, underlying merchant sales hit $41m by the end of the June quarter, up from $28m in the March period.

The merchant fees that Sezzle collects on these sales also climbed, rising to $2.1m during the June quarter.

Sezzle's total income for the period came slightly higher than that, reaching $3.6m.

Sezzle share price: final thoughts

Though Sezzle primarily has operations in both the US & Canada, promising comments within the H1 release suggests that Sezzle may further expand in the future.

Here it was pointed out that:

‘The Canadian launch has given our team the experience and confidence to explore new geographies for our payments product.’

Ultimately, today’s closing share price of A$2.52 represents a significant increase on Sezzle Inc’s IPO issue price of just A$1.22.

By typical standards those represent significant share price gains in a relatively short period of time.

The company’s market capitalisation now stands at A$423m.

In saying this, though today’s earnings release appears positive, how investors will respond to these results when the markets open tomorrow is anyone’s guess.

To read our coverage of Afterpay’s FY19 results – another key player in the buy now pay later space – click here now.