Paymark lifts annual profit by 17 percent on cost control, rising sales

Wednesday 5th September 2012

Paymark, the electronic payments company owned by New Zealand's four biggest banks, lifted full-year profit by 17 percent as revenue rose and it kept costs under control.

Profit rose to $9.6 million in the 12 months ended March 31, from $8.27 million a year earlier, according to its financial statements filed with the Companies Office. Revenue rose 2.4 percent to $44.9 million.

Expenses fell 2.3 percent to $31.4 million even as employee benefits, the biggest cost item, gained 9.2 percent to $13 million. Communication expenses declined about 22 percent to $6.4 million.

Paymark, which is equally owned by ASB Bank, ANZ National Bank, Westpac Banking Corp and Bank of New Zealand, processes 75 percent of New Zealand's electronic transactions via 115,000 terminals through 74,000 merchants.

A Paymark spokesman wasn't immediately available to comment on the results. Last month, the company said transactions through its networks rose 0.8 percent to $3.7 billion in July from a year earlier.

The company declared a dividend of $5 million on June 7, subsequent to the period covered by the accounts.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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