In fact, only 2 stocks with market capitalisations of over $30 million recorded share price gains for the last 12 months.

Let's take a look at the winning BNPL stocks of the last 12 months.

The best performing ASX BNPL shares of 2021

Fatfish Group Ltd (ASX: FFG) – up 36%

The Fatfish share price bested that of its BNPL peers over the course of 2021.

Having started the year trading at 3.8 cents, it finished at 4.9 cents.

The major news that boosted the company's stock was, interestingly, not released by it.

According to the company, its share price soared 440% over 2 sessions, likely due to a sale made by its investee iCandy Interactive Ltd (ASX: ICI).

Additionally, Fatfish acquired Forever Pay, a stake in Pay Direct Technology, BNPL Next, and has launched its BNPL offering, PaySlowSlow in 2021.

Novatti Group Ltd (ASX: NOV) – up 15%

The first half of 2021 saw the Novatti share price performing strongly. However, the second half saw it drop most of its gains to finish just 15% higher than it started.

The major news to move the company's stock was its agreement with fellow ASX BNPL company, Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT).

Afterpay selected Novatti to provide its services in New Zealand, sending the latter's shares 32% higher.

Having started the year trading at 25.5 cents, Novatti's stock finished 2021 swapping hands at 30 cents.

Ioupay Ltd (ASX: IOU) – down 21%

The Ioupay share price's major move of 2021 was an unexplained one.

In February it was handed a 'please explain' from the ASX after its stock gained 32% in a day. The company responded by saying it was as perplexed as anyone else.

Since then, its share price has once more slumped.

After starting 2021 trading at 19.5 cents, it's finished trading at 15.5 cents.

Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM) – down 20%

The Humm share price outperformed many of its peers despite recording a 20% tumble.

It began the year trading at $1.13 and finished it at 90 cents.

The most recent news to rumble the company's stock was a mention of a potential takeover.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) – down 18%

Finally, ASX BNPL favourite Zip made it onto the podium – just.

The company's shares started 2021 swapping hands for $5.59 and have since tumbled to finish 2021 trading at $4.33.

Over the course of the year, Zip rebranded its previous purchase, QuadPay in the United States.

It has also acquired – or is working to acquire – inroads in Europe, South Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

The post These were the 5 top performing ASX BNPL shares of 2021 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In fact, no ASX BNPL shares recorded any major gains over the course of the month.

Let's take a look at the best performers of the ASX BNPL group.

5 best performing ASX BNPL shares of November

A quick note before we start: This list only contains shares with market capitalisations greater than $40 million.

Fatfish Group Ltd (ASX: FFG) – up 3.5%

For the second month in a row, the Fatfish share price has bested the performance of its peers to take out the crown.

While Fatfish might not ring any immediate bells for market watchers, the company owns and operates a retail BNPL offering, PaySlowSlow, in Malaysia.

The Fatfish share price surged 38% on 18 November as one of its major investments, iCandy Interactive Ltd (ASX: ICI), prepared to release exciting news.

Sadly, only a small percentage of those gains stuck.

The Fatfish share price ended October trading for 5.7 cents and finished November at 5.9 cents.

Latitude Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: LFS) – down 1.4%

The second-best ASX BNPL share is Latitude. It operates BNPL offering Latitudepay.

The company didn't release any price-sensitive news to the market last month. However, its stock managed to dodge much of the carnage faced by other BNPL operators.

After ending October at $2.08, the Latitude share price finished off November at $2.05.

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) – down 11.7%

BNPL favourite Afterpay has ended up with November's bronze medal.

The big news from Afterpay last month was still its upcoming takeover by Square Inc (NYSE: SQ).

The company's stock has generally moved alongside its soon-to-be parent company's since the takeover was announced. Though, Afterpay faired considerably better than Square last month – the US-listed payment company's shares tumbled 18% in November.

Afterpay's last close of October saw its share price at $123.29. Sadly, at the end of its final session in November, it was going for $108.85.

Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM) – down 17%

This BNPL company has officially lost the silver medal it earned for the month of October. Instead, it has come in as the ASX's fourth-best performing BNPL stock in November.

November was also a quiet month for Humm.

The Humm share price ended October trading at 88 cents and finished November at 73 cents.

Novatti Group Ltd (ASX: NOV) – down 19.7%

Finally, just scraping into the top ASX BNPL performers for November in last place, is operator of software-as-a-service BNPL offering, and Afterpay's New Zealand partner, Novatti.

Once again, there were no big announcements from the company last month.

Its share price ended October trading at 43 cents and finished November at 34.5 cents.

The post Invested in ASX BNPL shares? These were the top 5 performers in November appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

However, one of its major investments is readying itself to release what might be exciting news.

At the time of writing, the Fatfish share price is 6.8 cents, 25.93% higher than its previous close.

The broader market is also in the green today. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has gained 0.16% while the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 0.15%.

Let's take a closer look at what might be driving Fatfish's stock higher on Thursday.

Is this why the Fatfish share price has grown wings?

The Fatfish share price is surging today, forcing the ASX to issue the company with a speeding ticket.

In explanation to the ASX's query, Fatfish stated its gains might have something to do with its former subsidiary, iCandy Interactive Ltd (ASX: ICI).

iCandy is in a trading halt today as it prepares to release news of a major acquisition and capital raise.

The gaming developer was originally a spin off from Fatfish and Fatfish still indirectly holds a 31.9% stake.

While there's no word from iCandy defining its upcoming acquisition and capital raise, the market seems to be expecting big things.

As The Motley Fool Australia reported earlier today, the company had $7.9 million in the bank as of 30 September. That could suggest the cost of its upcoming acquisition will be more than the company's other recent purchases.

Additionally, iCandy recently invested $1.59 million into Mighty Kingdom Ltd (ASX: MKL), receiving a 7.78% stake in the gaming developer.

The Mighty Kingdom share price is also soaring today, gaining 26% despite no word from the smaller gaming developer.

iCandy is set to release the defining details of its planned endeavour before Monday's open. If it doesn't release an announcement between now and then, its shares will initiate trade as normal next week or the trading halt will be extended.

Whether iCandy's trading halt is behind the Fatfish share price's surge today is unclear. However, it seems to be as good a guess as any.

The post Why is the Fatfish (ASX:FFG) share price swimming 25% upstream today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

However, making this list was relatively simple. That's because only 3 ASX-listed BNPL companies ended last month in the green.

Let's take a look at which BNPL stocks managed to return gains in October.

The 3 best performing ASX BNPL stocks of October

A quick note before we get into it; this list only contains shares with market capitalisations of more than $50 million.

Fatfish Group Ltd (ASX: FFG)

The Fatfish share price outperformed that of its ASX BNPL peers last month. Over the course of October, it gained 5.5% to end the month trading at 5.7 cents.

The market was treated to 2 releases from the tech-focused venture investment and development company last month.

First, Fatfish announced its retail BNPL offering PaySlowSlow had gained strong early traction following a mid-September launch. Additionally, its insurance technology offering, Fatberry, saw record sales over the September quarter.

PaySlowSlow is currently only available in Malaysia. Fatfish has plans to launch it throughout South East Asia.

The company later released its quarterly activities and cash flow report.

Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM)

The Humm share price rose 3.5% last month to take the crown as the second-best performing ASX BNPL stock. It ended the period trading at 88 cents.

Most of October was quiet for this BNPL company. However, near the end of the month, the company released its quarterly results, followed by its investor day strategy presentation.

Over the September quarter, Humm's BNPL offerings saw their combined total transaction volumes increase by 44.5% to reach $308.8 million.

The following week, Humm revealed it plans to restart paying dividends next year. It's also considering divesting its New Zealand business.  

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)

The last ASX BNPL stock with a valuation of more than $50 million to boast a gain for the month of October was none other than Afterpay.

The Afterpay share price gained 1.6% in October, finishing the month at $123.29.

The soon-to-be-acquired BNPL giant released no noteworthy news last month. However, the market heard good news about its upcoming takeover yesterday.

The post Own ASX BNPL shares? These were the best performers during October appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, the tech venture builder company's shares are up 7.55% to 5.7 cents.

Record sales performance

In today's statement to the ASX, Fatfish advised its insurtech Fatberry has enjoyed exponential growth in 2021.

Total gross sales for the three months ending 30 September have come in at $2.78 million, a record-breaking quarter. This is notably higher than the $1.98 million achieved in gross sales for the entire first half of 2021.

On the back of its sales performance, year-to-date gross sales stand at around $4.76 million — an all-time high.

Fatberry's gross written premiums soared 37.4% month-on-month from August 2021. This is underpinned by strong consumer demand in the Malaysian market.

The company aims to continue its growth with plans to expand its business into regional areas. Undoubtedly, this could have a positive effect on the Fatfish share price if the company can maintain its traction.

PaySlowSlow's successful launch

In addition to the positive announcement, Fatfish stated that its BNPL company PaySlowSlow has successfully launched in Malaysia.

Entered into the market in mid-September, more than 87 merchants have signed up so far within the first 2 weeks. This has led to close to $51,000 in gross merchandise sales with recorded increases week-on-week.

Fatfish plans to accelerate the rollout of PaySlowSlow across Southeast Asia to boost sales numbers.

Fatfish share price summary

Over the last 12 months, Fatfish shares have accelerated by 375% with year-to-date gains at almost 60%. The company's share price hit an all-time high of 43 cents in February this year, before sharply pulling back.

Fatfish presides a market capitalisation of roughly $59 million, with approximately 1 billion shares on its books.

The post Fatfish (ASX:FFG) share price surges 7% on business update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, the tech venture builder company's shares are up 18.64% to 7 cents.

What did Fatfish announce to the ASX?

Investors are driving up the Fatfish share price after the company secured funding to grow its businesses.

According to its release, Fatfish has raised $8 million from United States-based fund Arena Investors L.P.

Founded in 2015, Arena Investors is an institutional asset manager with over $2.2 billion in committed assets. The firm is led by a management team with decades of experience in corporate transactions and investment.

The funding agreement will be via convertible notes at a fixed price of 7 cents per Fatfish share. This represents an 18% premium to the 5.9 cents at which the Fatfish share price closed yesterday.

The convertible notes will have a coupon rate of 1% per annum, with a 12-month maturity date from 25 August 2021.

Proceeds of the funding will be used to expand the company's buy now, pay later (BNPL) and fintech business in Southeast Asia. Fatfish has been actively building an extensive suite of BNPL and digital lending services in the Southeast Asia region.

Fatfish CEO Kin W. Lau commented:

We have partnered with Arena Investors for 3 years now. They have been an incredibly supportive investor, working with the management of the Company to grow our business. They have provided funding to the Company at key inflection points of the Company.

Over and beyond, they have also bought more shares in the open market. In addition, Arena Investors has extensive experience in funding lending related tech businesses globally. They are a long-term strategic investor that we value.

Fatfish share price snapshot

Over the last 12 months, Fatfish shares have accelerated by 600%, with year-to-date gains sitting at 75%. The company's share price hit an all-time high of 43 cents in February this year, before sharply pulling back.

Fatfish presides a market capitalisation of roughly $71 million, with approximately 1 billion shares on its books.

The post Why the Fatfish (ASX:FFG) share price is leaping 19% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, the Fatfish share price is trading in the green at 6.2 cents apiece.

Below we look at the news out today from the ASX tech share.

What did Fatfish announce?

Fatfish's share price is surging after the company reported fresh monthly and quarterly sales records at its insurtech (insurance and technology) investee company Fatberry.

Fatfish, along with its Swedish-listed subsidiary Abelco Investment Group, together own 61% of Fatberry.

According to today's release, sales increased 36.7% from May to June, hitting $569,599 in monthly gross sales in June.

Total sales for the first half of 2021 of $1,977,391 represent a record high for Fatberry.

The Fatfish share price also may be getting a boost from its report that Fatberry's quarter-on-quarter average sales growth over the past 4 quarters is at 478% per quarter.

What did management say?

Commenting on the results, Fatberry CEO John Tan said:

Fatberry is riding on a very strong growth momentum. We are breaking our own records every quarter and growth is seen continuously in all operational measurements, from visitor counts on our website to overall sales performance.

The company has equipped itself with the right business model, stellar team and technology to drive this exponential growth for quite a while more.

Fatberry's current insurance products cover vehicles, motorbikes, personal accident and travel insurance. The company plans to launch a new insurance product category before the end of September.

Fatfish share price snapshot

The Fatfish share price has been a standout performer over the past 12 months, gaining 530%. By comparison the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 26% over that same time.

Year-to-date, Fatfish's share price has continued to outperform, up 58% in 2021.

Fatfish and its Swedish subsidiary, Abelco, operate from innovation hubs in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Stockholm.

The post Why the Fatfish (ASX:FFG) share price is storming 7% higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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.

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%.

The post Here are the top 3 performing ASX BNPL shares of FY21 – and they're not Afterpay appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In early trade, the technology venture company's shares were up as much as 38% to 10.5 cents.

The Fatfish share price has since eased back but remains up 18.5% to 9 cents at the time of writing.

Why is the Fatfish share price zooming higher?

The Fatfish share price is zooming higher today after the company announced an agreement to acquire BNPL Next for a consideration of A$4.14 million.

The release explains that BNPL Next is a holding company that aims to provide various corporate and consumer financial services in the South East Asia market.

The company also owns a 60% interest in Circopay, which is an Earned Wage Access (EWA) solutions provider allowing employees early access to earned wages. It has raised just over A$1million in funding and secured credit lines of A$5 million to facilitate its EWA services.

Management notes that the Circopay business is in an early growth phase and therefore it is not able to quantify the revenue income for Fatfish as a proposed 60% shareholder. If and when the revenue impact of the Circopay business can be responsibly determined, Fatfish will make further disclosure to the market at that time.

Why acquire BNPL Next?

According to the release, management believes the acquisition of BNPL Next fits into its strategy to invest in and build on emerging global technology trends in digital financing needs. This is especially the case given its existing plan to roll out buy now pay later (BNPL) services across Southeast Asia.

In addition to this, it believes the EWA market is an attractive place to be. This is due to its "win-win nature for both employees and employers."

Another positive it sees from the deal is the first-mover advantage it gives the company. It notes that as one of the pioneer EWA service providers in Southeast Asia (where a large proportion of the working population have comparatively lower income as well as limited access to financial services), Circopay is poised to capitalise on its first-mover advantage within the region.

Despite today's strong gain, the Fatfish is down a whopping 79% from its 52-week high.

The post Why the Fatfish (ASX:FFG) share price is rocketing 38% higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Why Fatfish shares paused trading today

The Fatfish share price jumped 4% this morning before entering into a trading halt just prior to lunchtime. This request was made on the basis of an upcoming buy now, pay later (BNPL) acquisition announcement.

Shares in the technology venture building company will remain halted until either Tuesday 8 June or when the relevant announcement is released to the market.

Fatfish ramps up Southeast Asian BNPL exposure

In recent months, Fatfish has been ramping up its strategic investments in the BNPL space with a focus on the Southeast Asian market.

On 18 February, the company's subsidiary Smartfunding successfully launched its corporate BNPL service in Southeast Asia. Fatfish has been progressively increasing its stake in Smartfunding and currently holds a 78.7% stake in the company.

On 26 February, Fatfish entered into a strategic partnership with KryptoPOS to rollout its BNPL services throughout Asia. The company believes that this partnership also has the potential to boost the market reach of its Smartfunding BNPL services.

With Smartfunding's focus on a corporate BNPL product, Fatfish acquired a strategic 85% stake in Forever Pay, which is a licensed corporate entity with a money lending license from the Malaysian government. Fatfish intends to develop and launch a retail BNPL product and leverage any potential synergies with Smartfunding.

The Fatfish share price in 2021

The Fatfish share price was a beneficiary of the BNPL hype in February, when the company's shares went gangbusters from 3.5 cents to as high as 43 cents.

In response to an ASX price and volume query, the company said that "some ASX listed companies in the BNPL space have experienced recent strong demand and increases in prices, especially company(s) involved in the Asian geographical market."

As the hype began to cool down for BNPL shares, the Fatfish share price has slowly drifted lower, first consolidating around the 10 cent level around March before sliding lower to the 7 cent level in May. As of today's pause in trade, Fatfish shares are sitting at 7.6 cents.

The post Fatfish (ASX:FFG) shares in trading halt pending BNPL acquisition appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The Fatfish Group share price is currently trading at 12.5 cents, up 8.7% from Friday's closing price.

Let's take a closer look at Fatfish's most recent acquisition.

Pay Direct acquisition 

The Fatfish share price is on the rise after the company advised its 55% stake in Pay Direct will have "impactful synergies" with its buy now, pay later (BNPL) rollout.

Pay Direct operates QlicknPay, a payment gateway technology suite that offers fast payment set up between merchants and financial institutions. It also allows online merchants to accept direct payments through many payment options.

According to Fatfish's release, a payment gateway is an important component in accelerating its BNPL services in Southeast Asia.

Currently, QlicknPay has deals with Malaysian Central Bank's online payment network as well as Mastercard, Visa and Paypal. It's used by more than 500 merchants.

QlicknPay is also used by OCBC Bank, Malaysia's second largest bank, as well as Public Bank Berhad, one of the country's most profitable.

In further news driving the Fatfish share price, the company advised that QlicknPay's popularity resulted in its transaction volume increasing by an average of 43% each month in 2020.

Currently, QlicknPay processes $32 million worth of payments each month and $380 million worth of payments each year. 

Fatfish Group will be paying $470,000 in cash for its 55% stake in Pay Direct.

Fatfish has been in the news a lot lately following a string of acquisitions. The company purchased a strategic 85% stake in BNPL company Forever Pay earlier this month, signalling its launch into the space. And, in February, a subsidiary of Fatfish acquired assets from iCandy Interactive Ltd (ASX: ICI).

Fatfish Group share price snapshot

The Fatfish Group share price has been flourishing on the ASX lately, with today's news providing only its latest boost.

Currently, the Fatfish Group share price is up 213% year to date. It's also up by a whopping 1,150% over the last 12 months.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $108 million, with approximately 940 million shares outstanding.

The post The Fatfish (ASX:FFG) share price is up 9% this morning. Here's why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Today's price gains come as the company announced an increased stake in a buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider.

Let's take a closer look at today's developments.

Fatfish gets fatter

In a statement to the ASX, Fatfish announced it was "raising its stake in the Singapore BNPL provider [Smartfunding] to 89.4% from 78.7% earlier." Fatfish Group will now own 39.95% of stock directly and its Swedish subsidiary, Abelco, owns a 49.4% stake. Fatfish bought the extra shares under a rights issue worth $300,000.

As Smartfunding is headquartered in Singapore, Fatfish needed to seek the permission of the Singapore Central Bank to increase its ownership of the company under Singaporean law. The Central Bank subsequently gave its approval for the purchase.

Smartfunding is a fintech platform licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. It recently launched a BNPL platform for small and medium enterprises throughout Southeast Asia.

The increased investment is going down well with investors, judging by today's Fatfish share price moves.

Speaking on the news, Fatfish CEO Kin W. Lau commented:

Smartfunding is pioneering the BNPL service for SMEs in Southeast Asia. By increasing our direct stake in Smartfunding, we will be in a stronger position to drive the business forward and to provide Smartfunding with all the support it needs to succeed.

This is not Fatfish's first foray into the BNPL industry. It recently announced the acquisition of Malaysian BNPL provider, Forever Pay.

Fatfish share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Fatfish share price has increased by a massive 1,025%. It is, however, around 74% lower than its all-time high of 43 cents a share. The record was briefly achieved in intraday trading on 17 February this year, with the company's shares ending that day at just 18 cents. This also followed huge gains in the value of Fatfish shares during the prior day's trading session. 

Fatfish has a current market capitalisation of around $108 million.

The post Why the Fatfish (ASX:FFG) share price is jumping today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In morning trade, the tech venture company's shares are up over 12% to 13.5 cents.

Why is the Fatfish share price rising?

The Fatfish share price was given a boost this morning from the release of an acquisition announcement.

According to the release, the company has entered into a binding agreement to acquire a strategic 85% stake in Malaysia-incorporated Forever Pay. It is a licensed corporate entity that holds a money lending license awarded by the Malaysian government.

Following the acquisition, Fatfish intends to enter into the retail buy now pay later (BNPL) and other consumer-oriented digital financing markets via Forever Pay. It also plans to develop potential synergies and collaboration with its existing BNPL business, Smartfunding.

Management notes that acquiring Forever Pay will allow Fatfish to further position the company as a comprehensive BNPL player in the Southeast Asia region.

What is Forever Pay?

The release notes that Forever Pay was incorporated seven months ago in September 2020 and has been awarded a Money Lending License by the Ministry of Housing And Local Government of Malaysia.

This Lending License allows financing operations for consumers and corporates to be conducted, including retail BNPL services.

Fatfish will acquire its 85% stake in Forever Pay for a total purchase consideration of A$870,000.

From this, A$450,000 of the consideration will be paid in cash, while the remaining A$420,000 will be paid via the issue of 3 million Fatfish shares. The cash portion of the consideration will be paid over a duration of 12 months from existing reserves.

The company notes that the current shareholder of Forever Pay is VNP Technology and is not related to Fatfish or its directors.

The post Fatfish (ASX:FFG) share price jumps 12% on BNPL acquisition update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The ASX technology venture share came out of a 1 day trading halt this morning following the release of a fundraising update to the ASX.

We take a look at the details below.

What did Fatfish announce to the ASX this morning?

Fatfish shares are moving higher after the company reported that RightBridge Ventures AB – one of its Swedish subsidiaries – has successfully raised SEK55 million (AU$8.4 million) in funding.

RightBridge is a subsidiary of Fatfish's Swedish subsidiary Abelco Investments Group AB.

The company said the funding round has a post-money valuation of $22.1 million.

Once the funding round is complete, Abelco will own approximately 53% of RightBridge, leaving Fatfish with a non-substantial stake of 0.6%.

At the same time, RightBridge is acquiring a 10.7% stake in Swedish-based Esports Pulze AB. The global esports platform operates epulze.com. According to the release, the platform has more than "400,000 registered users, hosted over 1,000,000 matches and held over 53,000 tournaments". The acquisition furthers RightBridge's business plan to become a leader in esports investment in the Scandinavian region.

Fatfish added that:

The funding round also implies the ability of a FFG's subsidiary to attract independent funding from third-party institutional investors, without being solely dependent on FFG for funding. In fact, all of FFG's major businesses have to date managed to secure significant third-party funding. This further validates FFG's business model and acumen as an international tech venture builder.

Fatfish share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, Fatfish shares have soared a remarkable 1,200% higher, racing past the 33% gains posted by the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).

Year-to-date the Fatfish share price is up 225%. At the current price of 13 cents per share, Fatfish has a market cap of $122 million.

The post Why the Fatfish (ASX:FFG) share price is soaring today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Let's take a closer look at what's driving the Fatfish share price today.

What did Fatfish announce?

In today's release, Fatfish advised that Fatberry company has continued to record explosive growth since June 2020. In the 8 months up until February 2021, Fatberry has achieved monthly revenue of $175,000, up a massive 6,800%.

The insurance tech company launched in Malaysia in April last year with the goal of disrupting the vehicle insurance market. The business is already a leading insurance online destination that enables consumers to compare, customise, and purchase insurance products.

Earlier this month, Fatberry expanded its offering into the two-wheel motorcycle insurance market. It valued both the vehicle and motorcycle market in Malaysia at an estimated $2.67 billion in 2020 alone.

To help drive future growth, Fatberry plans to launch new products, capturing other insurance verticals.

Capital raising efforts

Fatberry also revealed that it has raised $0.8 million in Pre-Series A Funding. Fatfish and its subsidiary, Abelco, invested $285,000 and $329,000, respectively. The capital raising also received funding from several private investors.

As a result of the Fatfish/Abelco investment, their interest in Fatberry increased to 61%, up from 53% prior to the capital raise.

Fatberry stated that it will use the funds to further develop its product offering, and ramp-up marking and branding campaigns.

What did management say?

Fatberry CEO John Tan touched on the company's plans, saying:

With the funding raised, we will continue in our mission to make purchasing insurance on digital platform as easy as possible for consumers.

Fatfish group CEO Kin W Lau added:

Consumers are going to prefer to purchase insurance on digital platforms. It is an unstoppable macro-trend. We are excited about the prospect of Fatberry and we can see lots of synergies between Fatberry's insurance platform and our buy now, pay later business.

About the Fatfish share price

Over the past 12 months, the Fatfish share price has been a top performer on the ASX, jumping 2,650%. The company's shares hit a multi-year high of 43 cents last month.

On valuation grounds, Fatfish has a market capitalisation of roughly $103.2 million, with close to 1 billion shares outstanding.

The post Fatfish (ASX:FFG) share price jumps 9% on positive update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Even more perplexing is Cirralto's rise over the last 12 months. An investor who bought shares in the company this time last year would find themselves up by 4,810% today. Even if you bought in at the start of this year, you'd be up by 127%.

So, what's the go with the Cirralto share price? Let's take a look.

Crashing on the pay now, pay later wave

Cirralto may well be the horse left at the start gate amongst buy now, pay later (BNPL) providers such as Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P), Fatfish Group Ltd (ASX: FFG) and IOUpay Ltd (ASX: IOU).

All the above-mentioned company's share prices had incredible gains in February, and Cirralto was alongside them. In fact, in a single day in February, the company reached an intraday high of 22 cents, a 200% gain, without any news having been released.

When the ASX inevitably noticed this unexplained share price rise, the company stated it resulted from social media and market attention because of the BNPL frenzy of the time.

Cirralto provides digital payment services in the business to business (B2B) sphere, with one service that is essentially BNPL for B2B transactions.

Yet, the company hasn't seemed to rise to the opportunity as investors might have hoped. Next to nothing has been announced from Cirralto since.

Capital raising

While investor excitement in Cirralto bloomed, the company took the opportunity to raise some capital.

On February 22, the company announced an $18 million placement with firm commitments, mostly from institutional investors.

While the $18 million was to develop its BNPL technology, aside from a single update, we haven't heard much about it since.

Cirralto share price fall from grace

Between 26 February and 2 March, the company's share price fell by 27.27%.

Cirralto managed to gain 3 cents back when it announced news of an update to its B2B BNPL service, but that quickly petered out with only 0.9 cents able to stick.

The current Cirralto share price is 20% lower than it was at the start of the month, trading for 8.8 cents. Hopefully, any investors who bought at 22 cents are still holding out hope that the company can return to its former glory.

Cirralto has a market capitalisation of around $183.7 million, with approximately 2 billion shares outstanding.

The post Down 20% with no news, what's with the Cirralto (ASX:CRO) share price? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The Fatfish share price drop follows the release of the company's preliminary final report for FY2020.

What was in the report?

For the 12 months ended 31 December 2020, Fatfish Group reported a net profit after tax of $191,000. This compares to a loss of more than $14 million net in the prior corresponding period (pcp).

The gross profits, however, are more precarious. The group went from $1.1 million in the pcp to $519,000 in FY2020. This calculates at a 54% drop over the two periods. Meanwhile, operating costs were down from $1.6 million in the pcp to $180,000. Sales fell from $2.7 million to nearly $700,000.

The nearly $2 million drop in revenue can be attributed to a cessation of online sales. A $167,000 drop in income from cryptocurrency mining is balanced out by a rise in interest revenue and services income.

The large difference between gross and net profit mostly stems from a $10.6 million loss in unrealised gains on investments at fair value to a $1.7 million positive.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the year was at $526,000. Net assets increased by 57% on the pcp to total $18.2 million.

Earnings per share (EPS) were reported at 0.26 cents. This compares to a 1.73 cent loss in FY2019.

The company did not pay a dividend for the period.

Mergers and partnerships

In today's report, Fatfish group also announced its subsidiary, Fatfish Global Ventures, has merged with Abelco Investment Group AB. As a result, Fatfish Group now owns a controlling stake (50.1%) of Abelco Group.

In a separate statement, Fatfish announced it was entering into a strategic partnership agreement with KryptoPOS – a cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) software company with operations in Malaysia and Indonesia. Through its subsidiary, Smartfunding, Fatfish will roll-out its buy now, pay later (BNPL) service to merchants using the KryptoPOS software.

The release said the partnership entailed sharing behavioural and data analytics between KryptoPOS and Smartfunding (according to consent and privacy laws), allowing Smartfunding to improve its credit analysis capability and pre-approve merchants with good credit standing for its BNPL services.

The partnership would involve a revenue-sharing arrangement entitling KryptoPOS to 15-30% of the net revenue for the transactions originated via the strategic partnership.

Words from the CEO

Commenting on the financial results, Fatfish CEO Kin Wai Lau said:

Financial year 2020 is a very interesting period for the Fatfish Group, with the group making its first profit since 2017.

Having concluded and secured our majority controlling stake in Abelco, the management is hopeful about opportunities we have in the innovation hot-bed of Nordic countries in Europe.

He went on to say that the company was excited to continue to grow its businesses, especially the recently launched BNPL services offered by Smartfunding and the online insurance of Fatberry.

We have a very capable and localised team that understands the tech landscape of Southeast Asia well, and this in (sic) shall position us well for the expansion of our core business over the next 18-24 months.

Fatfish share price snapshot

Despite today's rocky showing, the Fatfish share price is trading substantially higher than this time last year. In early March 2020, shares in Fatfish were trading at 1 cent each – a 1400% increase!

The majority of this rise has occurred over the past month. The Fatfish share price was trading at 3 cents at the beginning of February before hitting a high of 27 cents on 16 February.

The post Why is the Fatfish (ASX: FFG) share price down 10% after posting profit? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This morning the tech venture builder company's shares jumped as much as 22% to 16.5 cents following the release of an announcement.

However, shortly afterwards when the Fatfish share price had eased to 14.5 cents, its shares abruptly entered a trading halt.

What is going on with the Fatfish share price?

Investors were buying Fatfish shares this morning following the release of announcement relating to its 50.1% owned Abelco business.

According to the release, the Sweden-based investment company has reported profit after tax of A$15.1 million for FY 2020. This is up 526% from a loss of A$3.5 million in FY 2019.

However, it is worth noting that this has been driven almost entirely by asset sales. During the year, Abelco actually reported a 29% decline in revenue to $1.75 million.

Fatfish explained: "Abelco turn-arounds from making a loss of A$3.5 million in FY2019 to a profit of A$15.1 million in FY2020. This is largely due to Abelco's disposal of non-profitable subsidiaries, as well as the appreciation in the value of other key assets, including Abelco's stakes iCandy Interactive Limited (ASX: ICI), that has shown strong share price performance during the financial period."

Why is the Fatfish share price in a trading halt?

The Fatfish share price was placed into a trading halt pending the release of an announcement concerning a "material development" in Smartfunding's Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services.

The company's shares will remain in a trading halt until the earlier of the release of the update or the commencement of trading on Friday.

What is Smartfunding?

Last week Fatfish revealed that Smartfunding successfully launched its BNPL service as scheduled in Singapore. The company also explained that it sees opportunities to expand outside the country into the rest of South East Asia.

It commented: "Singapore is indisputably the dorminant (sic) financial hub for the Southeast Asia region. By being regulated and headquarted (sic) out of Singapore, Smartfunding aims to attract businesses not only in Singapore, but as well as from the rest of the Southeast Asian economies."

All eyes will be on the Fatfish share price on Friday when this "material" announcement is made.

The post What's going on with the Fatfish (ASX:FFG) share price today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At one stage today, the tech investment company's shares were up as much as 10% to 16 cents.

The Fatfish share price has pulled back since then but remains 3.5% higher at 15 cents currently.

Why is the Fatfish share price charging higher?

Hot on the heels of an announcement relating to the acquisition of assets from iCandy Interactive Ltd (ASX: ICI) by its 50% owned RightBridge subsidiary on Tuesday, this morning Fatfish provided an update on its buy now pay later (BNPL) launch.

And judging by the Fatfish share price reaction, investors appear pleased with what the company had to say.

According to the release, Fatfish's Singapore-based investee company Smartfunding has launched its BNPL service today as scheduled.

The release explains that its BNPL service has begun to take in applications from users immediately. These applications are being processed automatically via Smartfunding's proprietary online platform. This platform was developed predominantly by Fatfish's in-house venture builder team.

The release, littered with spelling mistakes, notes that Singapore is a great place to launch. It explained: "Singapore is indisputably the dorminant (sic) financial hub for the Southeast Asia region. By being regulated and headquarted (sic) out of Singapore, Smartfunding aims to attract businesses not only in Singapore, but as well as from the rest of the Southeast Asian economies."

The company also points out that that the BNPL model is relatively new in Southeast Asia and has a massive potential market opportunity. The release advises that there is a population of 655 million in the region, with a large proportion of middle-class families.

Watch out for Afterpay

However, Fatfish and Smartfunding won't have it all their own way. Last year BNPL giant Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) made a small acquisition in Singapore with a view of expanding into the South East Asia region in the near future.

But judging by the Fatfish share price, some investors appear to believe there is room for both companies.

Following today's gain, the Fatfish share price is up 300% since the start of the year.

The post Why the Fatfish (ASX:FGG) share price is charging 10% higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

So, what is the trading halt for? For a change, it's not about an ASX price query.

More money, please

Cirralto requested the trading halt in relation to a proposed capital raising. This comes after the last few days of mind-blowing trading volume.

As reported yesterday, Tuesday and Wednesday's trading volume was 352.5 million shares and 283.4 million shares respectively. For comparison, last Thursday and Friday only experienced 13.7 million and 17.5 million shares of volume.

It would be no surprise that the company would seek to take advantage of the elevated Cirralto share price interest. However, this capital raise comes less than 3 months after the company's last capital raise.

As we noted on Tuesday, Cirralto's low cash flows from operating activities require it to rely on other forms of financing. In November last year, this took the form of a $2.8 million placement.

As reported in the company's latest quarterly, Cirralto had a $1.029 million net outflow, excluding the capital raise.

Riding the buy now, pay later wave

Over this week, many small-cap shares have experienced monstrous price rises. Speculation over the buy now, pay later (BNPL) sector continues to rage, as the instalment payment system thrives globally.

Recent beneficiaries have included the following:

• IOUpay Ltd(ASX: IOU) – a recent BNPL entrant to Malaysia, up 257% in the last month.
• Fatfish Group Ltd (ASX: FFG) – a tech investment firm that holds a stake in a recent Singaporean-based BNPL entrant, up 326% in the last month.
• Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) – Afterpay competitor with global operations, up 104% in the last month.

Cirralto is playing catch-up, with its share price rising 60% in the last month.

When will the Cirralto share price trade?

Cirralto stipulates shares be halted in the trading halt request until either Monday 22 February or once the announcement is released to the market – whichever comes first.

For the time being, shareholders will have to sit tight for the capital raise details.

The post Why the Cirralto (ASX:CRO) share price is in a trading halt appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.