SafeCharge Share News (SCH)

(ShareCast News) - Payment technology provider SafeCharge reported an increase in interim profit but said growth in the second half was likely to be more moderate than the first.In the six months to the end of June, reported profit after tax came in at $15.2m from $12.4m, on revenue of $52.2m, up 5% from the same period a year ago.During the period, the group made significant customer wins, including Paddy Power Betfair and Sun Bingo, while progress was made in new sectors such as airlines, retail and games. Chief executive officer David Avgi said: "The first half of 2016 was a period of further success and growth for the group. I am proud to report that several of our latest innovations in technology based payment solutions have been successfully rolled out to serve our clients."Whilst we continue to advance in our core verticals, the group has made exciting progress in entering our new target sectors and over coming months we will focus and invest further to build our sales teams in order to further accelerate entry into these sectors."Safecharge said it expects growth in the second half to be more moderate than in the first. However, it said that given quality of clients both recently launched and within the current pipeline, it is confident of growth prospects into 2017 and beyond.At 1245 BST, the shares were down 5.9% to 247p.