The buy now, pay later (BNPL) sector caught the interest of many ASX watchers in the 2021 financial year.
Industry darling, the Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price rocketed 93.7% in FY21, soaring from $60.99 on June 30 2020 to a closing price of $118.17 on June 30 2021 after hitting a 52-week high of around $160 in February of this year.
Despite its strong showing, Afterpay didn't make it to the top 3 ASX BNPL shares list for FY21.
Let's take a closer look at the 3 shares that were best in class.
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3 best performing BNPL shares of FY21
IOUpay Ltd (ASX: IOU)
The IOUpay share price was a true ASX hero during the 2021 financial year. It gained a whopping 1,075% and its share price went from a measly 2 cents to a respectable 23 cents.
IOUpay is a BNPL provider focused on the South East Asian market. February was by far the best month of the 2021 financial year for the IOU share price – It gained a mammoth 412% in the first 15 days alone.
IOUpay's incredible February gains were seemingly driven by its agreement with EasyStore. The agreement saw IOUpay's BNPL service rolled out to EasyStore's point-of-sales platform – used by more than 7000 merchants across South East Asia.
The most recent news from IOUpay was of a similar agreement it has made with Razer Merchant Services in June.
The company has a market capitalisation of around $129 million, with approximately 551 million shares outstanding.
Fatfish Group Ltd (ASX: FFG)
Another BNPL star of the FY21 was Fatfish Group. The Fatfish share price gained 757% over the 12-months ended 30 June 2021.
Fatfish Group also had an unbelievably good February. Its share price gained 400% over the month after it announced it was to enter the BNPL space through its investee company, Smartfunding.
Then, in early April, Fatfsh acquired an 85% stake in Malaysian-based BNPL company Forever Pay. Finally, later that month, it made its second foray into the sector, purchasing a 55% stake in South East Asian payment provider Pay Direct Technology. The company said the stake would have "impactful synergies" with its BNPL rollout.
Fatfish has a market capitalisation of around $60 million, with approximately 1 billion shares outstanding.
Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL)
The 2021 financial year was Sezzle's first full financial year on the ASX – and it performed brilliantly. The Sezzle share price gained 107% in the 12-months ended 30 June 2021.
The BNPL company's initial public offering (IPO) was on 2 August 2019. Come 30 June 2020, Sezzle shares were trading for $3.76. Exactly one year later, they were going for $8.81.
At its highest point of the financial year, the Sezzle share price was a whopping $11.99. However, it was hit hard by the US-driven tech sell-off in March.
The latest news the market heard from Sezzle, was of its partnership with US retail giant Target Corporation. The news saw the Sezzle share price gain another 22%.
