LONDON (ShareCast) - Rapid growth in Argentina has led to apps and games retailer Mobile Steams more than doubling revenues in the year to June although it cannot use this cash for the rest of the business.

Pre-tax profits tripled to £4.8m on revenues that jumped 145% to £53.9m thanks to significant international expansion of its Appitalism.com direct-to-consumer portal, though gross profit margins decreased from 40% to 33% due to increased marketing costs.

No dividend was proposed as more than 73% of group cash was held in Argentina, where the government has continued to impose cross-border currency controls since the beginning of 2012, which have inhibited the repatriation of these funds.

To mitigate this risk, Mobile Streams said it was “taking steps” by diversifying the business into other countries, “in particular utilising the cash flow from its operations in markets such as Mexico and Colombia”.

Chairman Roger Parry said the board intended to review the dividend policy in the event of changes in Argentina's currency control issues.

“The company's management remains upbeat for the new financial year, in which revenue is once again expected to be largely generated in Latin America in markets such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.”

He added that the company had completed the process of relocating its global finance function to Argentina, with new Chief Financial Officer Gaston Cerf now based in the South American state.

Looking forward, the company said the new financial year has begun positively and it had continued to increase its mobile internet subscriber numbers.

Revenues in the first two months of the new financial year were revealed to be in line with those generated at the end of the prior financial year and the company said it was particularly excited about the growth prospects from its recently launched services in Brazil.

Analyst Johnathan Barrett at house broker N+1 Singer said: “MOS has continued to grow very rapidly and is focused on scaling its existing businesses and launching new operations based on its current model and exploiting its Argentinian cost base and expertise.

“MOS momentum looks likely to remain strong and conditions for smartphone based content demand growth look likely to remain positive, particularly in the less developed LatAm market.”

Shares in MOS were down 9.9% to 68.5p at 15:29 on Wednesday.

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