A big increase in revenue was offset by an even bigger rise in costs at payments company EML, which went on an overseas acquisition spree last year. EML reported a 26.8 per cent increase in customer revenue in the December half, which was more than offset by a 30.7 per cent increase in expenses. Higher costs included a bigger salary bill and higher share-based payments, plus greatly increased acquisition and finance costs. Net profit for the six months to December was A$4.3 million - up 67.6 per cent on the previous corresponding period. But when foreign exchange and hedging impacts are taken into accounts "total comprehensive profit" fell 12.9 per cent to $6.2 million. Net cash generated by operating activities fell from $17 million in December 2018 to $8.1 million in the latest half. On the acquisition front, in November EML acquired Prepaid Financial Services (Ireland) Ltd, a European provider of white label payments and banking-as-a-service technology. In July, EML received approval from the Central Bank of Ireland to acquire the 25.1 per cent of Irish payment card company PerfectCard DAC it did not already own. EML acquired 74.9 per cent of PerfectCard a year earlier. EML said that having an Irish eMoney licence would allow it to self-issue regulated payment products in European Union markets. In May, EML acquired Flex-e-Card Ltd - a gift cards business that trades as flex-e-card and flex-e-vouchers. FEC is described as "a provider of gift card solutions to the shopping mall sector", with 226 shopping centres under contract in Europe - mainly the United Kingdom, Ireland, Poland, Italy and Finland. A key metric for EML is gross debit volume - a measure of the volume processed through the company's various payment platforms. Those platforms include gift and incentive cards, reloadable cards, gaming cards, salary packaging benefit accounts and "virtual account numbers". The company says gross debit volume is a proxy for customer demand. For the December half it was $6.6 billion - an increase of 59 per cent over the previous corresponding period. In its financial report, the company focused on its EBITDA, which was up 42 per cent to $19.7 million. It said: "EBITDA growth has exceeded 30 per cent in each of the last three years and the group is well placed for future continued growth." It operates 1500 card programs in 23 countries.