Payments group PayPoint announces postponement of publication of annual results, but confirms outlook
- PayPoint offers over-the-counter payment facilities at over 28,000 UK stores
- The company bought Merseyside-based Appreciate Group in February for £83 million
- Appreciate managed the gift brands highstreetvouchers.com and Love2shop
Payment service provider PayPoint has postponed the publication of its annual figures one day before publication.
It said accountants at KPMG had been unable to complete the required work due to a “technical accounting treatment” related to Appreciate Group’s balance sheet at the takeover and year-end.
Accordingly, PayPoint plans to release its annual results once the accounting firm’s staff have completed their review.
The company offers over-the-counter payment facilities at more than 28,000 stores across the UK, including many supermarkets or newsagents, where customers can pay utility bills or top up their mobile phones.
Platform: PayPoint offers over-the-counter payment facilities at over 28,000 UK shops, many of which are supermarkets or newsagents
It maintained its guidance for net sales, excluding Appreciate Group, of approximately £125m for the year ending March 2023, driven by solid growth across all three trading divisions.
In addition, it expects pre-tax earnings to be at the high end of market forecasts due to “strong momentum”.
For the prior year, the company saw net income from continuing operations grow 18.5 percent, following an excellent performance from its Handepay and Merchant Rentals card payments.
Trading was further boosted by the expansion of its PayPoint One platform, Snappy Shopper partnership and Counter Cash service to more sites.
PayPoint offers over-the-counter payment facilities at over 28,000 UK shops, including many supermarkets or newsagents, where customers can pay utility bills or top up their mobile phones.
PayPoint bought Merseyside-based Appreciate in February for £83m to increase its reach in the prepayments market and the UK gift card and voucher sectors.
Formerly known as Park Group and founded in Birkenhead, Appreciate owned the highstreetvouchers.com and Love2shop brands, whose gift cards, vouchers and rewards codes could be used by consumers across many leading brands, including Asos, Argos and TK Maxx.
The company also reportedly operated the UK’s largest Christmas savings club, helping over 350,000 customers with their holiday budgets.
For the 2022 financial year, the group recorded approximately £386m in invoices, revenues of £123m and pre-tax profits totaling £8.4m.
PayPoint Shares were down 0.4 percent at 465p just before markets closed on Wednesday afternoon, meaning their value has shrunk by about a fifth over the past 12 months.