Net 1 earnings drop

Johannesburg - Net 1 UEPS Technologies [JSE:NT1], a provider of payment systems, on Friday reported diluted headline earnings per share (Heps) of $0.22 cents for the three months ended December 31 2010, from $0.42 cents previously.

It reported diluted Heps of $0.38 cents for the six months ended December 2010, from $0.79 cents earlier.

Revenue for the three months ended December 2010 increased to $89.011m from $73.864m in 2009, and for the six-month period revenue advanced to $153.294m against $139.378m previously.

"SA transaction-based activities revenue was $46.6m, up 3% compared with 2Q 2010 in USD and 5% lower on a constant currency basis.

"In ZAR, the decrease in revenue was primarily due to the new Sassa (South African Social Security Agency) contract at lower economics, which was partially offset by increased transaction volumes at EasyPay and the inclusion of MediKredit and FIHRST," Net 1 said.

On January 12, the group announced a six-month extension of its contract for the payment of social welfare grants with Sassa. 

A tender is expected to be put out shortly.