PayPoint runs a network of over 30,000 UK convenience stores that take parcels, bill payments, cash deposits and card payments, and it owns the Love2shop gift-card business. It chased £100m of annual underlying EBITDA (operating profit before depreciation and amortisation) by March 2026 and reached £92m. Over the same period it cut its share count by about 18% through buybacks, while net debt rose from £67m to £133m.
A shop-counter network that moves money, parcels and gift cards
PayPoint's core is a retail network in over 30,000 UK convenience stores, about 70% of them independents. Shoppers use it to pay bills, collect and send parcels, deposit cash and withdraw it. PayPoint also sells card-payment terminals to small merchants through Handepay.
The group now reports four units. Network Services (£92m FY26 net revenue) is the store network and its services. Merchant Services (£32m) is card payments and business finance. Digital Payments & Open Banking (£13m) sells payment tools to housing associations, utilities, charities and government, including Open Banking and Confirmation of Payee, a bank check that the name on a payee matches the account. Love2shop (£54m) sells gift cards and runs Park Christmas Savings. Customers include banks, energy firms, carriers such as Royal Mail and InPost, and consumer brands. 29 Sep 2026 11 Jun 2026 20 Nov 2025
Buying Love2shop and setting a £100m goal
The input describes the Love2shop (Appreciate Group) purchase as already done by late 2023. It changed the shape of the year. Half-year net revenue rose 34% to £80m, but profit before tax fell 7.5% and net debt reached £83m. Profit and cash now came mostly in the second half, around Christmas.
By January 2024 management was stating the target of £100m underlying EBITDA by the end of FY26. FY24 EBITDA rose 33% to £81m. A March 2024 restructuring cut about £4m of gross costs. In June 2024 the board began a three-year share buyback, with at least £20m in the first year. 23 Nov 2023 24 Jan 2024 13 Jun 2024 7 Mar 2024
Spending on parcels, Open Banking and card partners
In 2024 PayPoint invested in the carrier Yodel and took a majority stake in the Open Banking firm obconnect, completed in October 2024. It also named Lloyds Cardnet its main card-acquiring partner. Parcel transactions in Collect+, its parcel pick-up network, reached 133m in FY25, up 33%, and EBITDA reached £90m.
Reported profit told a different story. Adjusting items of £42m cut profit before tax by 45% to £26m, and net debt rose to £97m. The shares climbed from about 530p in early 2024 to 918p in June 2025, and PayPoint joined the FTSE 250 in November 2024. In June 2025 it raised the buyback to at least £30m a year to March 2028, aiming to cut issued share capital by at least 20%. 21 Jun 2024 30 Oct 2024 20 Mar 2024 12 Jun 2025 12 Nov 2024
Two setbacks and a reset in 2025
InPost bought Yodel, and PayPoint signed a new three-year contract with the combined group on less favourable terms. Management expected extra volume to offset this. Instead InPost's merging of the two networks disrupted parcel volumes in the second quarter. Separately, obconnect found the euro-zone Verification of Payee market 'disappointing' and turned to other markets.
On 20 November 2025 the company said £100m EBITDA would take longer than FY26, and the shares closed that month at 488p, down from 814p in September. Royal Mail's owner had bought 49% of Collect+ for £43.9m on 30 September 2025, valuing it at £90m. PayPoint paid a 50p special dividend and consolidated its shares 12 for 13. The CEO bought 25,000 shares at 538p after the results.
A Spanish investor, Asteriscos Patrimonial, went from under 3% to over 34% of the shares between December 2025 and September 2026. 20 Nov 2025 30 Sep 2025 21 Nov 2025 11 Dec 2025 1 Sep 2026
“We expect underlying EBITDA for FY26 to be ahead of last year and broadly in line with current market expectations.” 20 Nov 2025
Growth on partners' terms, and targets that slipped
Partners drive much of PayPoint's growth and also set its limits. InPost's contract terms and network merger hurt Collect+ volumes. Bank partners set the timing of Local Banking, where customers deposit cash at stores. In January 2025 the first bank was due by the end of March 2025. Lloyds launched on 26 August 2025, and the second bank slipped to the fourth quarter of FY26.
Acquisitions delivered less than hoped. The obconnect New Zealand contract worked, but the euro-zone opportunity did not. Profit grew more slowly than the plan implied: EBITDA rose from £81m to £90m to £92m, short of £100m. Buybacks and special payouts, not profit growth, shaped the share count. 20 Nov 2025 29 Jan 2025 12 Jun 2025 11 Jun 2026
Same CEO, targets met until FY26
Nick Wiles is chief executive and Rob Harding chief financial officer. FY24 and FY25 profit came in at or above guidance. The FY26 target was missed, and management said so in November 2025. It brought in Nile Partners to help redesign the organisation, and in March 2026 announced a fundamental review of group costs and a split into four units.
After the November 2025 fall, the CEO, the CFO and another senior manager bought shares. A small sale by another executive also appeared. In July 2026 the CEO received a one-off performance share award of 471,238 shares. Terms beyond the grant size are not in the input. 20 Nov 2025 30 Mar 2026 21 Nov 2025 24 Nov 2025 30 Jul 2026
Record profit, higher debt, softer start to FY27
FY26 underlying profit before tax was a record £69.0m, up 1.5%, and EBITDA was £92.0m. Revenue rose to £337m. Net debt was £132.5m, against £97.4m a year earlier. The final dividend was 20.0p.
The first quarter of FY27 was weaker. Group net revenue fell 6.4% to £39.5m, with Network Services at £21.6m, down from £23.1m, and Love2shop at £7.0m, down from £7.8m. Love2shop billings rose to £44.9m. Management said it was on track to meet market expectations. Buybacks have cut shares in issue by 17.7% so far, leaving about 59.9m. The latest close, on 9 October 2026, was 663.5p. 11 Jun 2026 29 Jul 2026 1 Jul 2026
Three-year goals set out in September 2026
At its capital markets day on 29 September 2026 the company set 5-8% annual net revenue growth. It gave Network Services 5-10% a year, and Digital Payments over 20% a year, with revenue more than doubling over four years. It plans £30m a year of buybacks to March 2028 and dividends moving towards two times earnings cover. The company has not given a new date for £100m EBITDA.
The share-count target has risen. In June 2025 the aim was at least 20% by March 2028. In March 2026 it became about 30% by FY28.
Near-term dates are Royal Mail Shop branding across about 8,000 Collect+ sites, with self-service kiosks in the fourth quarter of FY26. A second bank for Local Banking and the Handepay Connect launch in Q4 2026 follow. 29 Sep 2026 12 Jun 2025 30 Mar 2026 20 Nov 2025 1 Jul 2026
Written by AI from PayPoint's own announcements since Oct 2023 · every paragraph links to its sources