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LONDON (Alliance News) - ADVFN PLC on Wednesday said it swung to loss in the first half of its financial year as it invested heavily in the development of its website.
The stock was trading 7.0% lower on Wednesday at 33.00 pence a share.
The company, which provides online data and services to private investors, swung to a pretax loss of GBP214,000 in the six months to the end of December compared to GBP24,000 profit a year ago. Meanwhile, revenue remained broadly flat year-on-year at GBP4.3 million.
ADVFN called the first half of its current financial year as a period of "significant change" as it added a blockchain information offering to its platform.
"Our re-engineering of the ADVFN website positions us for growth especially on the eventual return of positive investor sentiment towards blockchain cryptocurrencies," noted Chief Executive Clem Chambers.
ADVFN said it has made a material investment in its website, which furthered the diversification of its product mix.
"After much preparation, and after seeing the first fruits of our recent efforts turn into revenue, this has helped us maintain our business in an environment where our customers have been buffeted by new regulation and difficult markets and we continue to look forward to the future with excitement," added Chambers.