EVO Posts Double-Digit Gains in Volume And Revenue As It Seeks Out Further M&A

EVO Payments Inc. capped off 2021 as a year of recovery from the impact of the pandemic as its top brass on Wednesday indicated the Atlanta-based processor intends to step up its hunt for acquisitions. 

“As we move further into 2022, we look forward to closing our acquisition in Greece and capitalizing on additional M&A opportunities, which, together with our international and tech-enabled businesses, will drive continued growth for the company,” said chief executive James Kelly, in a statement commenting on EVO’s fourth-quarter and full-year results. 

EVO said in December it would take a 51% stake in a merchant-acquiring joint venture formed with the National Bank of Greece. The bank spun off its existing acquiring business into the new entity to form the joint venture. EVO paid approximately $180 million to secure its interest.

Another major acquisition for EVO was its deal for Pago Facil, an e-commerce gateway in Chile. That deal, which delivered 3,000 merchants to EVO, arose from a joint venture between EVO and Bci Pagos, a unit of Chile’s third-largest private bank. Terms were not announced.

International business has historically been a strength for EVO, particularly in Europe. Last year, the company processed 878 million transactions in its European operations, totaling 75% of all transactions it handled. Revenue from Europe, though, totaled $52.8 million, or 40% of the total.

Company revenue for the fourth quarter came to $133.2 million, up 14% year-over-year. For the year, revenue totaled $496.6 million, up 13% from 2020. The revenue increases reflect positive trends in the company’s transaction volume as the business gets past the pandemic’s impact. All quarters last year, except the first, posted double-digit percentage gains in volume compared to 2019, the last full pre-Covid year. The same held true for EVO’s two major divisions, Europe and the Americas. Volume in the fourth quarter, companywide, was up 21% compared to the same period in 2019.

With this performance a background, the company said it expects revenue in 2022 to fall into a range between $550 million and $560 million, which would reflect growth of 11% to 13% over 2021’s results.