The Earlypay Ltd (ASX: EPY) share price was flying higher today after the company announced record trading in a market update today.
At the market close, shares in the company were trading 8.64% higher at 44 cents.
Earlypay is a small-cap ASX-listed company that delivers financial management and payroll services. The company aims to provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access to financing in order to grow and enable them to focus on their core activities.
Why the Earlypay share price was flying
In today's update, the company announced record transactions in March with volumes for the month at $199 million, 34% higher than the same period last year. The company said it expected this momentum to translate to a material increase in earnings for FY22.
Earlypay also announced improvements to all three of its warehouse facilities, providing "cost savings and greater flexibility". This in turn would support the continued growth of Earlypay's loan book.
In addition, the company reconfirmed its FY21 guidance of $21m earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) and NPATA of $8.5m.
Earlypay advised this would result in a minimum final dividend of 1.3 cents per share (cps), bringing the full year's dividends to 2.3 cps, fully franked and giving the company a dividend yield of 5.23%.
Management comments
Earlypay CEO Daniel Riley welcomed the performance, saying:
Q3, which is seasonally our lowest quarter, ended with record volumes in March, underpinned by Earlypay's online lending platform, which continues to deliver growth and momentum in client acquisition and client experience.
This growth is due to an increase in funding requirements from existing clients, as well as new clients coming on board as our organic growth continues to build.
The support from Earlypay's senior funders, which is evidenced by the increase in facility limits, broadening of product parameters and an overall reduction in interest costs, further supports the strength of our business and outlook.
About the Earlypay share price
The Earlypay share price has enjoyed a solid run of late, rising by 55% over the last year and outpacing the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) 30% gain for the same period.
The financial company currently boasts a market capitalisation of $103.55 million.
