Net Element, Inc. (NASDAQ: NETE) has made significant strides toward continued growth in the global payments market in recent months. In the first quarter of 2015, the company recorded $5.5 million in total revenue, which was a year-over-year increase of approximately 15 percent. Net Element’s efforts to improve its balance sheet in recent quarters have been equally impressive. Over the past five quarters, the company has reduced its outstanding debt from approximately $31 million at the end of 2013 to just over $4 million as of its latest financial filing. Moving forward, this fiscal flexibility should provide Net Element with an opportunity to maximize its overall market share across a collection of vital sectors.
“We’re pleased with our continued growth in revenues and reduced costs for the first quarter of 2015,” Oleg Firer, chief executive officer of Net Element, stated in a news release. “Going forward we will continue to focus on increased gross margins through acquisitions and providing additional, higher margin services such as Aptito.”
Aptito, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, provides complete business management solutions and cloud-based point of sale services to the hospitality sector. In 2014, the platform was awarded the silver medal at the Best in Biz Awards for its innovative approach to restaurant payments. Building on its early success, Net Element has continued to improve the platform in recent weeks. Earlier this month, the company announced the launch of an updated version of Aptito, integrating EMV chip technology and Apple Pay™ into its transactional processing platform.
“These upgrades provide a competitive edge to the product and should facilitate Aptito sales efforts and increase transactional revenue,” continued Firer. “By delivering these tools our goal is to help grow the business of our customers and assure greater transactional volume for Net Element.”
Net Element has also made strides toward growth through acquisition. Through the pending acquisition of PayOnline, Net Element addresses the growing market for mobile payment solutions. On Thursday, the company announced the addition of iOS compatibility to PayOnline’s proven mobile payments network. According to a study by the company, approximately 19 percent of online payments processed during the first quarter of 2015 were completed via mobile device, and, among those, 59 percent were completed using iOS, further demonstrating the massive growth potential for Net Element in the future.
Building on continued financial improvement and market share growth, Net Element is in a formidable position to strive for sustainable investor returns in the months to come.
For more information, visit www.netelement.com
