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The company also posted an 8% fall in net revenue from continuing operations to £46.4m for the six-month period.
PayPoint said the decrease in its pre-tax profit reflected the decrease in net revenue and the expected impact of the British Gas contract ended in December 2019.
Nick Wiles, chief executive of PayPoint, 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/Merchant Rentals (card payments) and i-movo (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.”
The company said PayPoint 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 represents 99.3% of the company’s independent retailer estate.
PayPoint reported that card payments transactions grew by 69% to £112.3m and net revenue increased by 63% to £6.9m. Meanwhile, ATM net revenue was down 18% year-on-year by end of the six-month period. In addition, parcel volumes declined by 2.5%, impacted by Covid-19, with consumers staying at home and able to accept deliveries.
