Dublin-based electronic payments group Payzone has said it expects to make a full-year pre-tax loss of €39 million this year.
In a trading update this morning the company said the forecast excluded the effect of losses on disposals, share option charges and IFRS adjustments.
Payzone said any costs arising out of the settlement of its dispute with two former directors; former chief executive John Nagle and former chief financial officer John Williamson who were sacked from their positions in March, was provided for within a restructuring announced in its interim results for the six months ended March 31st.
However, it did report today a €9 million increase in one-off costs due to the acceleration of restructuring and associated writedowns. For the year ending September 30th one-off costs are now expected to come to €22.4 million.
Payzone confirmed it is to dispose of its businesses in Spain, France and Italy for around €20 million. It said this would be set against the company's debt, reducing this position by 6 per cent to €271 million.
The company said "operational issues that had severely impacted the availability of the ATM estate are now resolved and this had led to improved financial performance over the final quarter of the year."
Leaving aside the impact of the economic slowdown on consumer spending in the UK, Payzone said it was confident the resolution of these ATM problems would "add to company profitability".
Payzone said it had made "considerable progress over the second half of the year, completing the integration of the Cardpoint and the alphyra businesses.
As a result it expects overall EBITDA in line with forecasts at €47 million.
The settlement of the dispute with Mr Nagle and Mr Williamson was announced last week and all three parties issued a joint statement saying they were happy to have reached an amicable solution.
The details of the settlement were not disclosed. In June, Payzone took a €8.8 million charge in relation to in restructuring costs, the consolidation of activities and the disputes involving its former executive directors.
Mr Nagle and Mr Williamson, who were removed from their posts by the company in January, remain shareholders in Payzone.
Shares in Payzone hit 2.5 pence in London today, giving the company a market capitalisation of £11 million (€14.3 million), according to Bloomberg data.
Its shares have fallen by 96 per cent so far this year. They debuted at 76 pence last December.
