PayPoint plc: Results for the half year ended 30 September 2020
PayPoint plc
Results for the half year ended 30 September 2020Financial HIGHLIGHTSProfit before tax from continuing operations of £16.8 million (2019: £20.7 million) decreased by £3.9 million, reflecting the decrease in net revenue from continuing operations and the expected impact of the British Gas contract ended in December 2019. Underlying profit before tax1 from continuing operations of £17.8 million (2019: £18.6 million) has been resilient with a 4% decrease.Profit before tax from the discontinued operation of £3.8 million (2019: £3.3 million) increased by £0.5 million (12.8%), mainly due to improved margins.Net revenue from continuing operations of £46.4 million (2019: £50.3 million) decreased by £3.9 million (7.8%); the prior period included £2.1 million net revenue from the British Gas contract now ended. Net of the expected British Gas impact, net revenue decreased by £1.8m.Total costs2 from continuing operations of £29.6 million (2019: £29.7 million) decreased by £0.1 million (0.3%). Total costs include £1.0 million of non-recurring costs, associated with one-offs for acquisitions and disposals. Other savings were mainly due to cost efficiencies from bringing terminal maintenance and repairs in-house and lower costs from decreased transaction volumes.Net corporate debt of £6.1 million (2019: £12.3 million) reflects cash balances of £14.9 million less borrowings of £21.0 million from the revolving credit facility.Ordinary interim dividend of 15.6 pence per share declared. The dividend will be paid in equal instalments of 7.8 pence per share on 29 December 2020 and 8 March 2021. The additional dividend programme ended in the prior year.On 21 October 2020, PayPoint announced that it had signed an agreement to sell its Romanian business. The sale is subject to competition and regulatory approvals, as well as other conditions precedent, and therefore completion is anticipated to take place on 31 March 2021. The Romanian business has been classified as a discontinued operation and the comparative Consolidated Statement of Profit or Loss and relevant notes have been restated to show the discontinued operation separately from continuing operations. The Romanian business has also been classified as held for sale in the Consolidated Statement of Financial Position. Nick Wiles, Chief Executive of PayPoint plc, said:“Our first half has been a particularly busy and challenging period for the business, against which we have delivered a solid performance, with a proactive network and product recovery post-lockdown supported by our resilient, sustainable business model.In addition, we have made a number of important steps to underpin our growth strategy in the UK, with the acquisitions of Handepay Ltd/Merchant Rentals Limited (card payments) and i-movo Limited (digital vouchering), significantly expanding our capability to seize the significant opportunities in our core market. The sale of our Romanian business to Innova Capital enables us to realise value and focus on the UK business.These steps, together with our internal investment plans, reinforce the focus on our UK markets and our confidence in the accelerated growth opportunities we see for the business.Our declaration of a dividend of 15.6p per share, consistent with our dividend policy, also reflects our long-term confidence in the business, the strength of our underlying cash flow and the enhanced growth prospects from the steps we have taken in the current period.”OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTSStep change in execution of growth strategy in UKDisposal of Romanian business at significant profit, underpinning UK-focused strategyAcquisition (subject to regulatory approval) of Handepay Ltd/Merchant Rentals Limited (card payments) and i-movo Limited (digital vouchering) to deliver enhanced growth and opportunities in UK, driving a broadening of payment capabilities and greater leverage of retailer networkWithin both client and retail services, incremental growth opportunities identified, leading to focused investment and resource allocation to accelerate deliveryRe-organisation delivering a more streamlined and accountable structure across the business
Solid performance with resilient recovery post-lockdown and good progress against strategic priorities1. Embed PayPoint at the heart of convenience retailPayPoint One was live in 16,900 sites at 30 September 2020, an increase of 802 since 31 March 2020, including 299 sites now live again following the first Covid-19 lockdown. This now represents 99.3% of PayPoint’s independent retailer estatePayPoint One average weekly service fee per site increased to £15.7 from £15.5 last year and total service fee net revenue increased by 12.7% to £7.1 millionCard payments transactions grew significantly by 68.7% to 112.3 million and net revenue increased by 63.4% to £6.9 millionATM net revenue was down 17.8% year-on-year by end of H1; good site recovery with suspensions reducing from 330 to 26 by 30 September 2020. Estate optimisation and tight cost management driving the right results. The Link Counter Service is now in trialA number of new initiatives underway to enhance retailer engagement, drive footfall and open new revenue streams from PayPoint One, including digital advertising screens and digital vouchers 2. PayPoint becomes the definitive parcel solution 10,486 live parcel sites at 30 September 2020, an increase of 1,840 since 31 March 2020. Parcel volumes declined by 2.5%, impacted by Covid-19 with consumers staying at home and able to accept deliveriesSecured full ownership of Collect+ in April 2020, maintaining Yodel as key carrier partnerNew Collect+ website launched, enabling a platform for future send services and further integrations with carrier partnersNew carrier partnerships signed, with DPD adding 2,500 sites to its DPD PickUp service and a send proposition trial launched with Parcel2GoRollout of new Zebra thermal label printers, enhancing send propositionExisting carriers scaling store presence pre-peak 2020 across network 3. Sustain leadership in ‘pay-as-you-go’ and grow digital bill paymentsMajor relationships renewed and expanding to digital services:Proactive management of client relationships yielding positive results on digital opportunities beyond energy ‘pay-as-you-go’Major client contract renewal programme largely complete – 17 client renewals9, including EDF, delivering a broader range of services from our MultiPay digital payments portfolio. BBC TV Licensing App is now live, enabling customers to pay for their license digitally26 new clients signed, with over 75% coming from non-energy sectors7 multiple retailer contract renewals, including EG Group, Motor Fuel Group and several regional Co-opsDigital payments growth:Strong focus on growing digital payments capability, with a number of MultiPay product enhancements (Direct Debit, Pay By Link and Event Streamer)MultiPay net revenue increased by 17.7% YOY13 new Cash Out clients signed, driven by local authorities digitising operations due to Covid-19Strong eMoney growth with transactions increasing by 15.4% and net revenue increasing by 19.9% 4. Building a delivery focused organisation and cultureStrengthened Executive team with key appointments, completing organisation structure announced earlier in yearBen Ford joined PayPoint on 1 July 2020 to lead our new Retail Services function. His focus is on aligning all our retailer-facing resource and capability, the end-to-end delivery of products and services to our retailers and the management of retailer relationships, leveraging our new CRM systemNext phase of CRM now fully rolled out to Contact Centre, enabling ‘single customer view’ of retailer and enhanced retailer experienceFirst phase CRM benefits yielding better data to improve key business decisionsIn-house warehouse operations extended to products and consumables, giving complete control of experience and key moments of retailer lifecycleCovid-19 impactsOverall trading continued to be resilient in the first half following the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, with a proactive network and product recovery post-lockdown, supported by our resilient, sustainable operating model, as evidenced by the tables at the end of this section.At the beginning of the national lockdown earlier this year, PayPoint swiftly moved to an operating model which combined remote working and continued activity in the field to support our retailer partner network, along with some essential office based activity. We are actively minimising the disruption to services and the support we provide clients and retailer partners whilst we continue taking the appropriate steps to safeguard our people. In the first half of this year, we have not furloughed any of our people and have not accessed any available government assistance. Instead, we have continued to review third party spend, continued to seek efficiencies in cost and invested our capex carefully.Transaction volumes and sites have recovered well from the initial impacts seen in April through the first national lockdown. An expected reduction in bill payment transactions year on year was further compounded by Covid-19, with consumers increasing their average top-up amounts and energy companies providing pre-payment consumers with credit advances. However, by the end of the first half, volumes had started to recover and in September 2020 were 19% behind the same period last year. Digital payments continue to grow strongly, with eMoney volumes recovering well. Card payments have benefited from the broader consumer shifts from cash to card and to more local shopping, delivering a strong performance with transactions increasing by 68.7% for the same six-month period last year. ATM volumes continue to recover, although this recovery remains dependent on a broader recovery in the economy. Parcel transactions continue to recover and are showing year on year increases from June onwards.The resilient performance of the business through this period was further underpinned by a series of proactive initiatives to support clients, retailers and consumers. This included launching a partnership with Deliveroo to give our retailer partners the capability to deliver goods to their local communities, the PayPoint Retailer Heroes awards recognising retailers who had gone above and beyond to support consumers through the pandemic and a £25,000 contribution to the NFRN Covid-19 Hardship Fund, helping retailers adversely affected by Covid-19. A presentation for analysts is being held at 9.30am today (26 November 2020) via webcast. This announcement, along with details for the webcast, is available on the PayPoint plc website: corporate.paypoint.comCHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REVIEWThe business has delivered a solid performance in the first half, against the backdrop of Covid-19, with a proactive network and product recovery post-lockdown, supported by our resilient, sustainable operating model. In addition, we have taken important steps to strengthen our operating model and organisational structure and to identify and support growth opportunities in our core UK business.Our priority through this crisis remains to keep our people safe and well, while providing the necessary support to our clients and retailer partner network, as we continue to serve some of the most vulnerable in our communities. The business quickly moved to a hybrid operating model which combines remote working, continued activity in the support of our retailer partner network, including our Contact Centre which has remained fully operational throughout, and some essential office-based activity. We have sought to minimise the disruption to service and support we can provide to clients and our retailer partner network, as evidenced by the swift recovery of transaction volumes and retailer sites in the half year period.As we indicated in our first quarter results, we have continued to see recovery in our business from the April lows and overall trading has remained resilient. Bill payment volumes have not recovered as we would have hoped, reflecting a combination of continued higher than average top up amounts, the consumer benefit of the reduced energy price cap and mild weather conditions. ATM volumes remain subdued after some recovery over the summer months, while volumes in Cards, Top-ups, digital payments (MultiPay), eMoney and in a number of the new payment initiatives have all continued to perform strongly. In addition, we have seen some recovery in parcel volumes, although this has been more subdued in recent weeks as a result of the recent additional government restrictions.The Board continues to support our core strategic priorities for the business: embedding PayPoint at the heart of convenience retail; becoming the definitive parcel point solution; sustaining leadership in ‘pay-as-you-go’ and growing digital bill payments. We have also fully embedded a new organisational structure to underpin these core strategic priorities and create meaningful new opportunities for growth. As set out later in this report, we have made good progress in the first half on strengthening and investing our business to deliver a stronger platform for long-term growth. Following the Board changes announced in May 2020, I am also delighted to welcome Rosie Shapland to the Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director who will assume chairmanship of the Audit Committee effective from 1 December 2020, and to confirm the appointment of Alan Dale as Finance Director, effective from 20 November 2020.We have now accelerated the execution of our strategy for growth in the UK, with the acquisitions of Handepay Ltd/Merchant Rentals Limited (card payments) and i-movo Limited (digital vouchering) significantly expanding our capability to seize the significant growth opportunities in our core market. As the UK’s leading secure digital vouchering system, i-movo will enhance our EPOS and terminal services proposition and create new opportunities with Newspaper, Government, FMCG, Utilities and banking clients. Our acquisition of Handepay/Merchant Rentals enhances significantly our existing cards business, creating access to new SME sectors including food services, garages and hospitality and the opportunity to accelerate the growth of the combined business in a growing cards market through clear operational initiatives, cross selling opportunities and synergies. The sale of our Romanian business to Innova Capital will enable us to realise value and focus on the UK business.On 30 Sept 2020, we announced that we had received a Statement of Objections from Ofgem relating to certain contractual terms with certain energy suppliers and retailers for the provision of over-the-counter (OTC) payment services. We are considering Ofgem’s provisional views set out in the Statement of Objections and will exercise our right to respond to Ofgem in due course. It is therefore too early at this stage to predict an outcome and any potential outflow of funds.With new national restrictions in force across the UK, we are applying our learnings from earlier in the year to ensure the continued resilience and preparedness of our business for this developing situation. We have clear plans underway to contain costs, we are working flexibly in support of our clients and retailer partner network and we continue to explore new opportunities.Finally, I am deeply grateful to our incredible people who have been working so hard over the past six months, the senior team who have shown great leadership in response to the challenges we are facing, and, most importantly, our retailer partners and clients who continue to work with us to deliver vital services and support consumers across the UK.Nick Wiles
Chief Executive
25 November 2020MARKET OVERVIEWChanging market dynamics are creating significant opportunities for PayPoint, with the business uniquely placed to take advantage of the continued shift from cash to digital payments and the increase in shopping local.Key trends and changes since the end of the 19/20 financial year in the UK markets in which PayPoint operates include:Convenience retailThe UK convenience sector has been one of the main beneficiaries of the increase in shopping local through Covid-19, with consumers choosing to stay closer to home, avoid busier stores and support businesses in their local communityTotal UK convenience sector is expected to grow by £3.8bn in 2020, an expected 9.2% growth on 201911Total UK convenience store numbers remained resilient, with marginal growth to 47,000 and numbers of independently-owned stores gaining 3% in the year12
Card paymentsGrowth in this sector has again been driven by the shift from cash to card payments accelerated by Covid-19Forecast growth in UK debit card market by 2027 to 19.7bn payments, with 36% contactless13In H1, PayPoint has seen card payment volume increase by 68.7% YOYUK convenience store card payments transactions overall increased by 27.2%14 and average basket sizes increasing 16.9% in 202012Outside of this sector, card payments overall have recovered well since the lows experienced earlier in the year, with latest data from August 2020 showing 1.6 billion debit card transactions, an increase of 2.5% YOY, and total spend of £58.4 billion, an increase of 12.5% YOY15
Cash OutThere have been clear challenges in this sector due to Covid-19, with a shift away from cash usage by consumersLINK’s ATM transactions declined by 44.8%16 to c700 million transactions and the number of ATMs in the UK reduced by 3.9% (2,241 sites) to 55,56517 in the 5 months to August 2020Some sites with multiple ATMs have closed one or more ATMs to aid social distancingAccess to cash remains a key priority in the UK. The FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) and PSR (Payment Services Regulator) are taking a joint approach to maintaining services for the many people who continue to rely on cash as a vital way of making payments, despite the changes brought by Covid-19
ParcelsOverall online sales increased during the lockdown earlier in the year, particularly in electronics, leisure equipment and grocery, as consumers were restricted at homeHowever, the fashion sector saw a decrease by 4.4% year on year18, for the period from January to August 2020, due to lack of socialising. This was also evidenced through a subsequent drop in demand in parcel volumes seen in our network due to the fashion focus of our carrier partnersAs consumers were generally at home, we also saw a reduction in the requirement for out of home pick up pointsSince April, pick-up and drop-off (PUDO) volumes have recovered well through our Collect+ network, ahead of the overall PUDO market performanceThe PUDO market comprises Click and Collect, returns and send propositions. The Click and Collect market is 11% of all volumes, c.150 million parcels per year and is expected to double by 202519. Returns and send volumes are estimated at c.185 million and c.380 million parcels per year respectively20 Bill payments and top-upsThe price cap for pre-pay customers reduced to £1,164 for the six months to September 2020. This is 6%21 lower than the cap set in September 2019. This will further reduce by 8.1% in the six months to March 2021Non-Big Six energy providers combined market share remained static at c28%22.The rollout of smart meters has slowed further with the impact of Covid-19 impacting installations with only 1.1m meters installed in 202023. The deadline for completion of the rollout has now been extended to 30 June 2025The number of PAYG mobile subscribers declined by 3% in 2019 to 24.9 million subscribers24 PROGRESS AGAINST OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIESPayPoint is uniquely placed to take advantage of the continued shift from cash to digital payments and the increase in shopping local, with both of these trends accelerated further over the past six months by Covid-19.Our core strategic priorities for the business remain unchanged:1. Embed PayPoint at the heart of convenience retail
2. PayPoint becomes the definitive parcel point solution
3. Sustain leadership in ‘pay-as-you-go’ and grow digital bill payments
4. Building a delivery focused organisation and cultureDuring the period, we have made a number of important steps to underpin this strategy through the acquisition of i-movo Limited and Handepay Ltd/Merchant Rentals Limited (subject to regulatory approval) and the disposal of our Romanian business.As the UK’s leading secure digital vouchering system, i-movo will enhance our EPOS and terminal services proposition and create new opportunities with Newspaper, Government, FMCG, Utilities and banking clients. Our acquisition of Handepay/Merchant Rentals enhances significantly our existing cards business, creating access to new SME sectors including food services, garages and hospitality and the opportunity to accelerate the growth of the combined business in a growing cards market through clear operational initiatives, cross selling opportunities and synergies. We believe the sale of our Romanian business is well timed, delivering a strong profit on its disposal and ahead of the next stage of development and investment in this business. These steps, together with our internal investment plans, underpin the focus on our UK markets and our confidence in the accelerated growth opportunities we see for the business.Progress against the core strategic priorities is set out below:PRIORITY 1: EMBED PAYPOINT AT THE HEART OF CONVENIENCE RETAILPayPoint continues to provide technology, payment services, increased footfall and basket spend to our retailer partners. Our UK network of more than 27,500 stores is bigger than all banks, supermarkets and Post Offices together, putting us at the heart of communities nationwide and comprising the best multiple, symbol and independent retailers in the UK. Our superior network means 99.5% of the urban population live within one mile of a PayPoint retailer partner and 98.3% of the rural population live within five miles.Our network is enabled with cutting-edge technology designed to create a platform for growth and provide retailer partners with everything a modern convenience store needs. Core to this priority is PayPoint One, which includes EPoS and bill payment functionality, and other products such as card payments and ATMs.H1 ProgressPayPoint One:PayPoint One was live in 16,900 sites at 30 September 2020, an increase of 802 since 31 March 2020The number of sites suspended due to Covid-19 has reduced by 91% since 31 March 2020 to 29 at 30 September 2020Average weekly service fee revenue per site increased to £15.7 (2019: £15.5). To support our retailers during the Covid-19 period, the annual inflation increase was waived this yearEPoS Pro was live in 1,336 sites, growth of 498 (59%) since 31 March 2020We launched a new promotion in July 2020 to enable PayPoint One retailers to try our EPoS solution at no extra cost for 3 months. After the trial period, we are anticipating two thirds of retailer partners will remain on the platform and benefit from the full capability of our EPoS solutionEPoS technical re-platforming is now complete and we have fully launched a new retailer self-service portal, improving the quality of our retailer experience and reducing their need to call our Contact CentreEstablished trials of digital advertising screens and digital vouchering to drive conversion and footfall for retailer partners, new engagement channels for FMCG brands to their consumers and, subsequently, open up new revenue streams for PayPoint OneCard payment:Card payment services were live in 9,885 sites at 30 September 2020, an increase of 450 sites since 31 March 2020 mainly due to installs and Covid-19 suspended sites returningTransactions grew significantly by 68.7% to 112.3 million and net revenue increased by 63.4% to £6.9 million, benefiting from the increase in convenience store sales and the preference of stores to take payment by cardThe average transaction value for the period increased to £12.5 from £11.8 in the prior period. This was impacted in the first half by the increase in contactless limit to £45 along with the increasing average basket size in the convenience sectorUse of our card payments net settlement functionality has been growing and is now active in 881 sites, an increase of 179% from 31 March 2020First phase of retailer lifecycle improvements complete, focused on onboarding and early-life experienceATM:ATMs were live in 3,782 sites at 30 September 2020, an increase of 162 since 31 March 2020, largely due to non-operational sites coming back online from Covid-19PayPoint continued to focus on estate optimisation and tight cost management, relocating machines from low performing sites to better locationsATM transactions declined by 24.8% to 15.6 million, less than the general market decline of 44.8%25 during Covid-19Net revenue decreased 17.8% to £5.0 million, primarily due to lower transactions processed as a result of less demand for cash across the economyPayPoint have been actively converting surcharge ATMs to free ATMs, under LINK’s Financial Inclusion scheme. This activity has contributed to building an estate of over 181 free PayPoint ATMs, that facilitate free access to cash to the most vulnerable in societyThe Link Counter Service trial is now in progress, offering access to cash via over-the-counter cash withdrawals using PayPoint’s in store terminalsH2 PrioritiesRefocus of sales team and continued building of sales pipeline, including key initiatives:Field Sales team refresh, driving sales and retailer partneringEPoS Try Before You Buy – phase 2Card attachment rate recovery and onboarding improvements with a focus to buy-out of contracts partnered with our acquirerStore to Door – create an open platform for Delivery partners to fulfil customer orders with home deliveryPRIORITY 2: PAYPOINT BECOMES THE DEFINITIVE PARCEL POINT SOLUTIONPayPoint’s extensive parcel pick-up and drop-off network, which comprises over 10,000 sites, provides a solution for carriers and a footfall driver for retailer partners, including Amazon, eBay, DHL, Fedex and Yodel. Delivering high levels of consumer satisfaction, our offering enables our carrier partners to improve service levels for their consumers in the crucial ‘last mile’ of deliveries, balancing the continued growth in online retail shopping with the realities of operating in a competitive low-margin market.H1 Progress10,486 live total parcel sites at 30 September 2020, an increase of 1,840 sites since 31 March 2020 due to increasing sites for newer parcel partners and Covid-19 suspended sites returningSecured full ownership of Collect+ in April, maintaining Yodel as key carrier partner and enabling further partner and store expansionNew Collect+ website launched – gives control and ownership of store locator, consumer interactions and online parcel tracking, as well as a platform for future send service and further integrations with our carrier partnersNew carriers signed, DPD and Parcel2Go send proposition trial underwayRollout of new Zebra thermal label printers, enhancing our send propositionExisting carriers scaling store presence pre-peak 2020 across our networkH2 PrioritiesEnsure smooth operational delivery during peak 2020 tradingSuccessful launch of DPD and trial of Parcel2Go send serviceAccelerate rollout of Zebra printers to improve customer experience and send propositionEnhance our send proposition via Collect+ website PRIORITY 3: SUSTAIN LEADERSHIP IN ‘PAY-AS-YOU-GO’ AND GROW DIGITAL BILL PAYMENTSPayPoint is pioneering new ways of using digital payments so organisations can seamlessly and effectively serve their customers. Our market-leading omnichannel solution – MultiPay – is an integrated solution offering a full suite of digital payments. It enables transactions online and through smartphone apps and text messages, as well as over the counter, over the phone and via interactive voice response (IVR) systems. It also supports a full range of Direct Debit options, including scheduling collections.Over-the-counter payments remain an important part of the UK economy, particularly for the 8 million UK consumers who rely on using cash for payments26. We will continue to retain our leadership in this area, through our superior retail network, coverage and service proposition. This business remains highly cash generative and enables us to invest in future growth and innovationH1 ProgressMajor relationships renewed and expanding to digital servicesProactive management of client and multiple retailer relationships yielding positive results on digital opportunities beyond ‘pay-as-you-go’Major client contract renewal programme largely complete – 17 client renewals27, including EDF, delivering a broader range of services from our MultiPay digital payments portfolio26 new clients signed, with over 75% coming from non-energy sectorsBBC TV Licence App now live, enabling customers to pay for their license digitally7 multiple retailer contract renewals, including EG Group, Motor Fuel Group and several regional Co-ops
Digital payments growthMultiPay increased by 17.7% in net revenue YOY – Direct Debit and PayByLink products launched13 new Cash Out clients signed, driven by local authorities digitising operations due to Covid-19Strong eMoney growth with transactions increasing by 15.4% and net revenue increasing by 19.9% in the periodH2 PrioritiesComplete remaining key energy and multiple retailer contract renewalsDeliver new business sector wins – Housing & eMoneyContinue to diversify and secure broader opportunities beyond ‘pay as you go’ with existing clients – Pay By Link, cards and Direct Debit PRIORITY 4: BUILDING A DELIVERY FOCUSED ORGANISATION AND CULTURE
Underpinning PayPoint’s future success is the continued development and investment in our people, systems and organisation with the aim to create an efficient and high performance based culture with a focus on empowerment, engagement and customer service. H1 ProgressStrengthened Executive team with key appointments, completing organisation structure announced earlier in yearBen Ford, joined PayPoint on 1 July 2020 to lead our new Retail Services function – his focus is on aligning all our retailer-facing resource and capability, the end-to-end delivery of products and services to our retailers and the management of retailer relationships, leveraging our new CRM systemNext phase of CRM now fully rolled out to Contact Centre, enabling ‘single customer view’ of retailer and enhanced retailer experienceFirst phase CRM benefits yielding better data to drive key business decisionsIn-house warehouse operations extended to products and consumables, giving complete control of experience and key moments of retailer lifecycle
H2 PrioritiesDeliver the successful integration of Handepay, Merchant Rentals and i-movo businessesStart to deliver synergies from acquisitionsOutlook AND DIVIDENDOur first half has been a particularly busy and challenging period for the business. Operationally, we have remained focused on managing our business by supporting our people, our clients and retailer partner network and the most vulnerable in the community. In addition, we have taken important steps to strengthen our operating model and organisational structure and to identify and support growth opportunities in our core UK business.Our core strategic priorities for the business remain unchanged: embedding PayPoint at the heart of convenience retail; becoming the definitive parcels solution and sustaining leadership in ‘pay as you go’ and growing digital bill payments. During the year, we have made a number of important steps to underpin this strategy through the acquisition of i-movo Limited and Handepay Ltd/Merchant Rentals Limited (subject to regulatory approval) and the disposal of our Romanian business. As the UK’s leading secure digital vouchering system, i-movo will enhance our EPOS and terminal services proposition and create new opportunities with Newspaper, Government, FMCG, Utilities and banking clients. Our acquisition of Handepay/Merchant Rentals enhances significantly our existing cards business, creating access to new SME sectors including food services, garages and hospitality and the opportunity to accelerate the growth of the combined business in a growing cards market through clear operational initiatives, cross selling opportunities and synergies. We believe the sale of our Romanian business is well timed, delivering a strong profit on its disposal and ahead of the next stage of development and investment in this business. These steps, together with our internal investment plans, underpin the focus on our UK markets and our confidence in the accelerated growth opportunities we see for the business.We expect the continuing government restrictions to create some uncertainty in the outlook to a number of our businesses in the second half, although we have taken the necessary steps and learnings from the first lockdown to ensure their continued resilience through this developing situation. The influence of parcel volumes during the important peak seasonal period and resilience in bill payment volumes will also be important factors, along with the continuation of the positive trends we have seen in card volumes, e-Money and MultiPay. Underpinning our outlook for the second half are the actions we have taken during the year to manage our costs, apply a tight operational focus and maximise new business opportunities. We have declared a dividend of 15.6p per share, consistent with our dividend policy, which reflects our long-term confidence in the business, the strength of our underlying cash flow and the enhanced growth prospects from the steps we have taken in the current year. Overall expectations for the full year remain unchanged.Financial reviewOVERVIEWProfit before tax from continuing operations of £16.8 million (2019: £20.7 million) decreased by £3.9 million due to the decrease in net revenue from continuing operations and the expected impact of the British Gas contract ended in December 2019.Revenue from continuing operations decreased by £8.4 million to £60.7 million (2019: £69.1 million). Net revenue from continuing operations decreased by £3.9 million (7.8%) to £46.4 million (2019: £50.3 million); the prior period included £2.1 million net revenue from the British Gas contract now ended. UK retail services net revenue increased by £1.8 million (8.6%) to £21.7 million mainly from increased card payments net revenue. Card payments net revenue increased by £2.7 million (63.4%) due to a significant increase in transactions (68.7%). Service fee net revenue increased by £0.8 million (12.7%) driven by the roll out of PayPoint One to additional sites. ATM net revenue decreased by £1.0 million (17.8%) due to a reduction in transactions with reduced demand for cash over the period and the closure of sites due to Covid-19. Parcel net revenue decreased by £0.3 million (20.1%) mainly due to a decrease in transactions.UK bill payments and top-ups net revenue of £24.7 million decreased by £5.7 million (18.6%). UK bill payments revenue was restated to include the intercompany revenue recharge for transactional services with the discontinued operation. UK bill payments net revenue decreased by £5.7 million (25.6%), or £3.6 million (17.9%) excluding the £2.1 million prior period net revenue from British Gas, mainly due to the impacts of Covid-19 where consumers are making larger payments, less frequently and energy companies provided credit to prepayment customers.MultiPay net revenue increased by £0.3 million (17.7%) driven by growth from new revenue streams and an increase in transactions from other clients excluding Utilita. As expected MultiPay transactions decreased due to Utilita moving customers to their own in-house app. UK top-ups and eMoney net revenue remained stable at £8.1 million (2019: £8.1 million), transactions decreased by 13.8%. eMoney transactions increased by 15.4% which increased net revenue by £0.6 million (19.9%). Romania’s net revenue increased by 4.5% to £7.6 million (2019: £7.3 million) through margin improvement in bill payments and top-ups. Transactions increased by 1.2% to 57.4 million (2019: 56.7 million). Total costs from continuing and discontinued operations of £33.4 million (2019: £33.6 million) decreased by £0.2 million. Total costs include £1.0 million associated with the one-off acquisition and disposal costs. Costs from continuing operations decreased by £0.1 million mainly due to cost efficiencies from bringing terminal maintenance and repairs in-house and lower costs from decreased transaction volumes. Costs from discontinued operations decreased by £0.1 million due to cost reduction measures for Covid-19 including travel savings and lower bonuses. Cash generation remained strong with £29.5 million (2019: £27.1 million) delivered from profit before tax from continuing and discontinued operations of £20.6 million. There was a working capital inflow of £3.4 million, of which £3.3 million will reverse next year once the HMRC VAT deferral is paid. There was also the add back for depreciation and amortisation of £4.9 million. Net corporate debt decreased by £6.2 million to £6.1 million (2019: £12.3 million). Dividend payments were lower compared to the same period last year due to the end of the additional dividend programme. At 30 September 2020, £21.0 million (2019: £18.0 million) was drawn down from the revolving credit facility, repayments of £49.0 million were made for the revolving credit facility in the period since 31 March 2020. SECTOR ANALYSISUK retail servicesUK retail services are services PayPoint provides to retailers which form part of PayPoint’s networks. Services include providing the PayPoint One platform (which has a basic till application), EPoS, ATMs, card payments, parcels and SIMs.As at 30 September 2020, PayPoint had a live terminal in 27,553 UK sites, an increase of 724 sites from 31 March 2020, primarily as a result of sites temporarily suspended sites due to Covid-19 returning to the network. PayPoint One sites increased by 802 since 31 March 2020 due to installs and a reduction in sites suspended due to Covid-19.UK retail services: net revenue increased by £1.8 million (8.6%) to £21.7 million. The net revenue of each of our key products is separately addressed below.Service fees: This is a core growth area and consists of service fees from PayPoint One and our legacy terminal. Service fee net revenue increased by £0.8 million (12.7%) to £7.1 million (2019: £6.3 million) driven by the additional 1,812 PayPoint One sites compared to 30 September 2019. The PayPoint One average weekly service fee per site increased by 1.2% to £15.7 (2019: £15.5), benefiting from the increase in Core and Pro sites which are charged at a higher rate. EPoS Pro and Core sites increased by 498 and 455 respectively since 31 March 2020, mainly due to new sales, the EPoS try before you buy trial and Covid-19 suspended sites returning. Legacy terminals now just remain in our multiple retailer partners, the replacement in our independent retailer partners having been completed at the end of the last financial year. Card payments: Card payment transaction volumes increased significantly by 68.7% to 112.3 million (2019: 66.6 million). Across our network, 9,885 retailer partners were using the card payment solution, an increase of 450 sites since 31 March 2020 mainly due to new sales and Covid-19 suspended sites returning. Net revenue increased by 63.4% to £6.9 million (2019: £4.2 million), benefitting from the increase in convenience store sales and the preference of stores to take payment by card. PayPoint’s revenue rebate is broadly based on a percentage of the transaction value processed.ATMs: As expected ATM net revenue decreased by £1.0 million (17.8%) to £5.0 million (2019: £6.0 million) due to a 24.8% reduction in transactions, attributable to a combination of suspended sites from Covid-19 and reduced demand for cash across the economy over this period. ATM sites increased by 162 since 31 March 2020 due to a reduction in the Covid-19 suspended sites and the re-opening of a large leisure partner. PayPoint continued to optimise its ATM network by relocating existing machines to better performing locations.Parcels & other: Total parcel volumes decreased by 2.5% to 11.2 million (2019: 11.5 million), impacted by Covid-19 with consumers staying at home. Parcel sites increased by 1,840 from 31 March 2020 to 10,486 sites (31 March 2020: 8,646 sites), due to increasing sites for the newer parcel partners and Covid-19 suspended sites returning. Parcels and other net revenue decreased by 20.3% to £2.7 million (2019: £3.4 million), due to parcel net revenue which was impacted by Covid-19 and a market decline in SIM sales. Other services provided include SIM sales and other ad hoc items.UK bill paymentsBill payments is our most established category and consists of prepaid energy, bill payments (including MultiPay) and Cash Out services.