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The retail market may be flat, but online layby giant Afterpay Touch Group (ASX: APT) certainly isn't feeling the pinch as sales through its platform have almost quadrupled in the past year.
More than $2.18 billion worth of underlying transactions have been processed through the Afterpay platform in FY18, a 289 per cent increase over the previous year.
In the past quarter alone, $736 million worth of products were transacted through Afterpay, representing a 171 per cent increase over the prior corresponding period.
APT stock soared by as much as 20 per cent on Thursday morning and is currently trading up 15.29 per cent at $12.59 at the time of writing (12:47pm AEST).
A strong start in the United States market boosted the company following its mid-May launch, realising an astounding $11 million worth of sales through the platform in its first month.
This comes in stark contrast to when Afterpay first launched in Australia and it took around 16 months for the company to first hit the $11 million milestone in cumulative sales.
There are currently 16,500 retailers worldwide who sell their goods through Afterpay, including around 10,000 physical storefronts, up from an approximate 6,000 in FY17.
The company says its strong partnership with retailers has been, and will continue to be, a key to its success.
"Significant online retailers continue to on-board, having either recently come live or are in the process of integrating," says the company.
"Afterpay's commitment to its retail partners is to help them become more successful and relevant to their target audience.
"During FY19, Afterpay will focus on introducing new retailer services and campaigns to target new customers based on brand and product relevance criteria."
Brands to have most recently jumped on the Afterpay bandwagon include Pandora, Boohoo, Mitre 10, Napoleon Perdis and Baby Bunting.
The company has an active presence in the beauty industry with its new Salonpay service across 250 hair and beauty shopfronts. It also has a foothold in entertainment through Dreamworld, and travel through Jetstar.
Subject to audit, Afterpay is expecting a group revenue of approximately $142 million and EBITDA in the range of $33-34 million.
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