PayPoint’s latest interim results have revealed a 5.2% drop in pre-tax profits for the payment services provider.
Figures for the six months to 30 September 2019 also showed a 3.7% drop in operating margin to 42.1%. Revenue fell 2.3% to £103.7m, although net revenue increased 3% to £57.3m.
A further 2,207 PayPoint One terminals were installed over the period, taking the total to 15,088. PayPoint had originally set a target of 15,800 installations for 31 March 2020; it has now revised that upwards to 16,500. There are plans for further investment in the platform during the second half of the year to expand its EPoS features.
The card payment estate returned to growth, operating in 9,879 sites as at 30 September 2019 compared to 9,796 sites six months previously.
Parcel volumes grew by 15.1% over the period, with eBay, Amazon, FedEx and DHL now integrated into the PayPoint network. Its parcel mobile app is now fully functional with parcel inventory management, character recognition and predictive text features.
Nick Wiles, PayPoint’s Executive Chairman, said: “I’m pleased with the progress PayPoint has made over the past six months.
“Whilst the financial performance of the business will be influenced by parcel volumes and continued resilience in UK bill payments over the second half, the progress of the business during the first half… underpins the Board’s confidence that as PayPoint’s growth drivers continue to develop, there will be progression in profit before exceptional items and tax for the full financial year to 31 March 2020.”
