VeriFone Pushes Taxi and Mobile Tech to Boost Its Business

VeriFone reported a loss in the fiscal fourth quarter, but beat its internal guidance, and is touting new mobile payments initiatives as a way to improve performance in the future.

The payment terminal manufacturer reported a quarterly net loss of $247.7 million, or $2.26 per share, compared with a net profit of $27 million or $0.24 per share in fiscal 2012. Revenue declined 11%, to $431 million from $485 million, but was ahead of analysts'  expectations of $421.5 million for the quarter, which ended Oct. 31, 2013.

VeriFone has had a rocky year. Its longtime CEO Doug Bergeron resigned in the spring of 2013, and the company faced allegations that it did business in embargoed markets overseas. VeriFone also shifted its strategy on mobile payments, moving past its Sail mobile card reader.

Since then, VeriFone hired Paul Galant, a former Citigroup payments executive, to be its CEO and to join its board of directors. The company has also focused on emerging payments technology such as sound-based payments for taxi cabs and bundled payment services.

More recently, VeriFone was selected by the Egyptian Ministry of Finance to install mobile payments at gas stations in Egypt, and completed rollout of its Payware mobile products with two top-100 U.S. retailers, VeriFone said in its earnings report on Dec. 17.

"I am pleased with our fourth quarter results, which exceeded our guidance," says Galant in a press release. "We are witnessing the scale convergence of electronic payments, mobility, digital commerce and predictive analytics, and this is an exciting time to lead VeriFone. The company has a global franchise, a growing services business, and a leadership position in enabling commerce for our clients. There is much work to do, and I am confident that the best for VeriFone is yet to come."