Considering a change in the way it will report future revenues, payment processor Planet Payment Inc. plans to delay release of its financial results for the first half of 2011, the company announced Sept. 29.
The Long Beach, N.Y.-based company requested the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange to temporarily suspend trading company shares until the company issues financial results.
Planet Payment consultations with independent public accountant Deloitte & Touche LLP, while preparing to report financial results under U.S. securities laws, resulted in a review of the revenue-reporting process, a company press release noted.
Planet Payment said it normally reports revenue as total billings, inclusive of amounts paid to acquiring banks and processors, and for interchange, assessments and other processing service fees. The company is considering reporting net revenue with those costs excluded.
The issue about how to report revenues ultimately would not change or affect the company’s net income or losses, or reports on balance sheets, cash flow or stockholder equity statements for any period, the company reported.
The press release did not indicate how long the financial reporting would be delayed, stating only “the company is working diligently to finalize and issue its financial statements for this period as soon as practicable.”
The company released unofficial operating numbers “in the interest of transparency for investors and other stakeholders” despite the reporting delay to financial markets.
Citing “increases at active merchant locations,” the company reported transaction processing revenue of $1.05 billion for the first half of 2011, a 77.4% increase from $592 million during the last year’s first six months. The number of transactions processed rose 63.3%, to 4.9 million from 3 million, the company reported.
Planet Payment said total active merchant locations through June 30 doubled, to 22,825 from 11,398.
During the first half of this year, Planet Payment expanded its acquiring customer base in existing and new markets, announcing agreements with Global Payments Inc. to provide multicurrency services in the United States and Canada (
The company also expanded its agreement with Vantiv LLC, formerly Fifth Third Processing Solutions, to offer Pay in Your Currency service at U.S. ATMs (
