PayPoint saw 1.6% growth in underlying revenue last year (to 31 March 2019), including the share of commission it paid to retailers.
However reported revenue was down 0.9% to £211.6m. In its preliminary results, the company said this reflected the £5.2m “headwinds” from the closure of the DWP’s Simple Payments Service and revised commercial terms with couriers Yodel.
The continuing success of the PayPoint One platform drove an underlying net revenue increase of 2.0%, helped by growth in MultiPay, eMoney and the company’s Romanian business.
Reported net revenue dropped 2.5% to £116.6m, buffeted by the same £5.2m headwinds.
Cost efficiencies and savings trimmed £2.9m from underlying costs, with total costs £3.8m down year-on-year at £62.8m. This figure included a one-off VAT recovery of £2.4m related to prior years.
Profit before tax excluding exceptional items grew 1.6% to £53.8m, and profit before tax including exceptional items was up 3.3%. Diluted earnings per share also climbed 3.3%.
New PayPoint boss Patrick Headon said he was delighted to have joined the company at “an exiting time” in its development.
“Key foundations have been set for future growth,” he commented. “PayPoint One was rolled out to almost 13,000 sites and, in the future, we will continue to enhance product features adding even more value to retailers.
“Together with our four new parcel partners we can improve online shoppers’ experience by delivering their purchases to a PayPoint store convenient to them.
“MultiPay enhancements allow our clients to offer a full suite of payment options to their end consumers. At the same time, our bill payments business has proved resilient in a rapidly evolving market.”
