PayPoint ticked all the right performance boxes in the first half, with the value of all customer transactions up 16 per cent to £5.59bn during the period.
Growth on the retail side, which includes cashpoints and bill payment systems, was lower at 5 per cent as fewer people used its machines to make mobile top-ups. However, this was more than offset elsewhere. Cash machine transactions grew 14 per cent and debit transactions by 29 per cent, while SIM card sales jumped 56 per cent. Bill and general payments showed solid growth, too, not least because paying utility bills is non-discretionary and net revenue here rose 9 per cent to £16.2m.
Recent ventures also showed strong growth, with PaybyPhone revenue – where people pay to park using mobile phones – up 17 per cent, while transactions increased fivefold to over 1m for parcel delivery service Collect+. Internet payment transactions also grew strongly, by 34 per cent, and the group's Romanian retail network broke even for the first time, with the number of bill payment transactions increasing 60 per cent to 8m.
Broker Collins Stewart is forecasting full-year adjusted pre-tax profits of £37.8m and EPS of 40.4p (from £34.6m and 35.2p for 2011).
| PAYPOINT (PAY) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 492p | MARKET VALUE: | £333m | |
| TOUCH: | 479-500p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 570p | LOW: 320p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.9% | PE RATIO: | 13 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 122p* | NET CASH: | £21.5m* | |
| Half-year to 25 Sep | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 92.9 | 14.6 | 14.9 | 7.80 |
| 2011 | 95.9 | 15.8 | 16.7 | 8.70 |
| % change | +3 | +8 | +12 | +12 |
Ex-div: 30 Nov Payment: 21 Dec *Includes intangible assets of £58m, or 86p a share **Includes £3m of client cash | ||||
