(Correcting that Payments & Banking net revenue declined by 0.8%)

PayPoint PLC on Thursday reported strong interim growth figures but with the firm paying close attention to consumer behaviour.

The Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire-based store payment service provider said that pretax profit rose 34% to £23.1 million in the six months to September 30 from £17.2 million the prior year.

Revenue increased by 6.7% to £135.0 million from £126.5 million the previous year, with its E-commerce division recording the largest percentage increase in net revenue of 57% to £8.0 million from £5.1 million the prior year.

PayPoint said this reflected a strong half-year for Collect+ as parcel transactions soared by 47% to 61.9 million from 42.1 million the previous year.

PayPoint shares were down 6.6% at 780.26 pence on Thursday morning in London.

Love2shop net revenue was up 7.4% on-year for the period to £18.8 million versus £17.5 million, driven by its restructured new business team and corporate API integrations launched into major clients.

Shopping divisional net revenue increased by 2.5% on-year to £32.9 million from £32.1 million and Payments & Banking net revenue performed marginally worse on-year by 0.8% to £24.9 million from £25.1 million.

Despite the cross divisional progress PayPoint acknowledged challenges in the broader UK economy related to consumer confidence and spending, but stated that the firm is positioned well to deliver further revenue growth into the second-half of the financial year, with PayPoint confident in meeting expectations.

PayPoint increased its interim dividend by 2.1% on-year to 19.4 pence per share from 19.0p the prior year.

PayPoint Chief Executive Nick Wiles said: ‘This has been a strong half year for PayPoint where we have delivered a positive financial performance and made further progress towards our medium-term target of delivering £100 million in underlying earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation by the end of FY26.

‘Over the half, consumer behaviour has improved from a slow start in April although remains subdued, with broader economic indicators demonstrating the continuing challenging environment for UK consumers. We continue to monitor this closely as we head into the important H2 period for a number of our more seasonal businesses.’

He added: ‘We remain confident in delivering further progress in the current year, meeting expectations and achieving our medium-term financial goals.’

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