The Openpay Group Ltd (ASX: OPY) share price jumped as much as 29.07% in morning trade today after the company announced a new funding facility and record results for the month of May.

Openpay is a small-cap buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider that made its debut on the ASX in December 2019. If offers payment plans up to $20,000 over 2 to 24 month periods.

Where rival Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) focuses on the retail sector, Openpay targets 3 verticals that historically lacked BNPL solutions – automotive, healthcare and home improvement. Leading merchants offering Openpay include Bupa, Bunnings Warehouse, Spotlight, Smiggle and Repco.

New funding facility

This morning, Openpay announced it has secured a £25 million debt funding facility with Global Growth Capital. From this, Openpay will immediately have £10 million available to support its fast-growing UK business. The UK business is currently operating online in the retail vertical and recently achieved a major milestone after launching with JD Sports in mid-May.

This new UK funding facility is on top of the company’s existing $75 million debt facilities, of which $45 million remains undrawn.

Commenting on the new funding facility, CEO Michael Eidel said:

“Openpay UK is emerging as a significant contributor to our Total Transaction Value. This funding facility with Global Growth Capital adds strength to our strong balance sheet and provides us with ample funding to support the delivery of our current growth objectives in the UK.”

Record month of May

Openpay also provided a trading update this morning following its Q3 FY20 results released in April. The company declared May 2020 as its strongest month in history, with key highlights including:

• Active plans totalling 739,000, up 220% from 231,000 in May 2019;
• 293,000 active customers, up 131% from from 127,000 in May 2019;
• 2,096 active merchants, up 50% from 1,396 in May 2019; and
• Total transaction value (TTV) of $170 million year to date, up 95% from $87 million in May FY19 year to date.

Growth in active plans, active customers and TTV were all record results. This performance was primarily driven by ‘OpenMay’, a month of special promotions with merchant partners across all industry verticals.

Importantly, the company noted its underlying loan book credit quality remains strong, while the number of weekly COVID-19 hardship requests continues to decline. Additionally, the incidence of fraud is also continuing its downward trend as a result of recent technology upgrades to Openpay’s platform.

At the time of writing, the Openpay share price is sitting 15.5% higher for the day at $1.49, taking its current year-to-date gains to 19.2%.

More reading

• This ASX fintech share is up 489% since March
• Why Nearmap’s share price surged by 50% in May
• Real wealth from 3 roaring mid caps in May
• Afterpay share price rockets 50% in May, is it in the buy zone?
• Why these 3 ASX 200 blue chips could be set for growth this week

Motley Fool contributor Cathryn Goh owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Southern Cross Media Group Ltd (ASX: SXL) shares rocketed over 80% higher in May but is the Aussie media group in the buy zone with its current share price?

Why the Southern Cross Media share price surged in May

Southern Cross completed an equity raising and provided a trading update on 6 May. The Aussie media group launched a fully underwritten equity raising which included an institutional placement and a 1.75-for-1 pro-rata, non-renounceable entitlement offer. This raised $169 million at 9 cents per share for Southern Cross and helped to strengthen the balance sheet.

The trading update provided some good news with the group achieving positive earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in April. Significant operating cost reductions helped to offset the decline in revenues.

The Southern Cross Media share price was volatile in May and regularly featured in the week’s biggest movers. However, the Aussie media group moved the most last week when it rocketed over 70% higher. Last week’s share price gains were so strong that the media group was even sent an ASX Price Query. Southern Cross advised the securities exchange operator that it could not explain why its share price had risen so much.

Is the ASX media group in the buy zone?

Southern Cross Media shares are now trading at $0.23 per share. That gives the Aussie media group a $613 million market capitalisation but it was worth 4 times that much back in July 2019.

This says to me that COVID-19 hasn’t been the only factor weighing on the group’s share price. Regional television and radio has been doing it tough for a while but the pandemic certainly hasn’t helped with revenues.

I still think the Aussie media group’s shares are a speculative buy right now. There’s a lot of volatility in the share price and still more uncertainty in the months ahead.

Foolish takeaway

The Southern Cross Media Group share price could be cheap at $0.23, but I won’t be buying in just yet.

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Surging bank shares push ASX toward 6,000
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares in May
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
• 3 ASX 200 shares to buy for a Goldilocks-style bounce back
• ASX 200 up 0.1%: Big four banks rocket, Afterpay sinks lower

Motley Fool contributor Ken Hall has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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