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PayPoint PLC took in 224 million UK pounds (US$356.9 million or 255.8 million euros) of revenue during the 12 months ended 29 March, up 5.7% from 212 million pounds the previous financial year, the UK-based payment network provider said Thursday. The company reported a pretax profit of 35 million pounds, up 16.7% from 30 million pounds. PayPoint operates some 22,000 terminals in UK and Ireland retail locations that accept payments for gas and electricity bills, mobile phone top-ups, and transportation tickets. The company, which also operates a network of 2,200 ATMs and processes online card payments, says it handles 540 million transactions annually. During the 12-month period, the company launched an bill-payment service in Romania and increased the size of its UK and Ireland terminal network by 11%. "We expect further growth in the UK by increasing market share in bill and general payments, mobile top-ups and ATMs," David Newlands, PayPoint chairman, says in a statement. "We plan to add a further 1,500 terminals during the course of the current financial year."
