(Alliance News) - Appreciate Group PLC said Wednesday it reduced its loss in the first half of its financial year with a "resilient" performance in line with expectations.
The gift card and voucher firm, formerly known as Park Group PLC, said that for the six months ended September 30, revenue increased by 21% to GBP33.2 million from GBP27.4 million in the comparative period a year ago.
Its pretax loss was slimmed to GBP1.3 million from GBP1.5 million a year before.
Appreciate said the narrowed loss demonstrated that strong underlying trading had been maintained during a transformative period.
Appreciate noted its business is highly seasonal. It expects to generate a loss in the first half of its financial year, as the majority of annual revenue and profit is generated in the second half of the year.
Appreciate proposed an interim dividend of 1.05 pence, unchanged from the first half of 2018.
The company said it continues to develop its product proposition and in particular move away from paper towards gift card and digital formats. Also, the company said it has improved its customer experience with focus on an enhanced online and mobile offering.
"Appreciate Group performed well in the first half, consistent with our expectations for the year as a whole, with strong operational performances in both consumer and corporate divisions," said Chief Executive Officer Ian O'Doherty.
Appreciate shares were up 0.7% in London at 48.25 pence each on Wednesday.
At the beginning of November the company changed its name to Appreciate Group from Park Group, saying that it more accurately described its gift products.
By Loreta Juodagalvyte; loretajuodagalvyte@alliancenews.com
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