PayPoint plc (LON:PAY) today provided a trading update for the three months ended 31 December 2024.

Group net revenue increased by 1.9% to £53.0 million (Q3 FY24: £52.0 million), driven by a positive performance in the quarter by the E-commerce and Love2shop divisions.

Shopping divisional net revenue decreased by 2.0% to £16.1 million (Q3 FY24: £16.4 million). E-commerce divisional net revenue increased strongly by 32.0% to £4.1 million (Q3 FY24: £3.1 million). Payments & Banking divisional net revenue increased by 0.8% to £14.0 million (Q3 FY24: £13.9 million).

The Group had net corporate debt of £108.9 million (31 March 2024: £67.5 million), comprising cash balances of £2.4 million (31 March 2024: £26.4 million), less loans and borrowings of £111.3 million (31 March 2024: £93.9 million).

This has increased by £22.1 million since September 2024 following the £10.5 million further investment in obconnect, share buyback and seasonal working capital requirements. Net corporate debt is expected to reduce to below £100 million by 31 March 2025.

The Board have declared an increased interim dividend of 19.4 pence per share, an increase of 2.1% vs the prior half year of 19.0 pence per share. The dividend is payable in equal instalments of 9.7 pence per share on 20 December 2024 and 28 March 2025.

On 1 July 2024, the Group commenced a three-year share buyback programme, returning at least £20 million to shareholders over the next 12 months, with the potential to increase in years 2 and 3 depending on business performance, market conditions, cash generation and the overall capital needs of the business. As of market close on 27 January 2025, a total of 1,554,667 shares had been purchased at a total value of £11.2m.