26th May 2016 06:54
LONDON (Alliance News) - Payments services company PayPoint PLC on Thursday said its pretax profit plunged in its financial year to the end of March due to an impairment charge, though underlying profit edged up despite lower revenue.
Pretax profit for the group fell to GBP8.2 million from GBP49.6 million, primarily as a result of the impairment booked on the group's mobile payments business. It is seeking to sell the mobile payments unit, but has yet to do so. Adjusted operating profit, stripping out one-offs, grew to GBP50.1 million from GBP49.5 million.
PayPoint said its revenue slipped slightly to GBP212.6 million from GBP218.5 million in the year, though retail services transactions grew 18% to 140 million, while total retail network sites increased to 39,000.
The group said it will pay a final dividend of 28.2 pence, meaning its total payout will rise 10% to 42.4p. In addition, Paypoint will return a further 21.0p dividend from the proceeds from the sale of its online payments unit.
"We have made good progress in what has been a challenging year. Our businesses have performed credibly, with growth in the UK being driven primarily through our developing retail services. I am confident that delivery of new products, in particular our next generation terminal and our MultiPay platform, will provide the basis of continuing future growth in payments and services," said Chief Executive Dominic Taylor.
"We can look forward to continuing growth in earnings per share and a progressive dividend
policy alongside returning excess capital over a five-year period," Taylor added.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Paypoint