Xurpas 9-mo net income falls 27%

Technology firm Xurpas Inc. reported a 27-percent year-on-year drop in nine-month net profit to P140.1 million due to sluggish mobile advertising business and higher expenses.

For the third quarter, Xurpas incurred a net loss of P14.6 million, reversing the P60.4-million net profit a year ago as the company devoted more resources to develop new mobile products and platforms.

In a statement, Xurpas said revenue rose by 49 percent year-on-year to P1.68 billion driven by the mobile consumer services segment, which accounted for 67 percent of its business.

The mobile consumer business, which contributed P1.13 billion in revenue, marked an increase of P551.63 million from the same period last year.

Enterprise services declined by 2 percent year-on-year to P479.32 million in the first nine months while other services, such as those under Storm Technologies, surged by 43 percent to P63.53 million, surpassing the P54.07 million in 2016.

Art of Click’s business weakened in the third quarter of 2017, against a backdrop of challenges faced by the mobile advertising industry in the region.

Xurpas said it would implement a recovery plan to improve Art of Click’s client mix and return to profitability.

In the first nine months of the year, the Xurpas Group continued to develop various products, services, and platforms. While some of these initiatives have been successfully launched, Xurpas reported that its earnings were adversely affected in the third quarter.

Nonrecurring expenses related to the consolidation of Art of Click Pte Ltd., which hit P48.1 million, dragged earnings in the first nine months alongside the ramp-up of manpower and resources in Xurpas and its subsidiaries.

While profitability slid in the third quarter of the year, Xurpas said it had continued to develop new mobile products and platforms that were key to long-term sustained growth. New hiring as well as employee certifications and skills training also jacked up expenses during the period. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA