(Alliance News) - Stanley Gibbons Group PLC on Thursday said progress is now being made following a transformation plan begun nearly two years ago.
Shares were 11% higher on Thursday morning in London at a price of 2.50 pence each.
Some of the plans put in place were an improvement in technology, a rebranding, and initiatives aimed at increased the stamp firm's addressable market.
Stanley Gibbons's revenue for the half-year to September rose by 34% to GBP6.7 million, helping the pretax loss narrow to GBP661,000 from GBP2.4 million a year prior.
"It is now 20 months since the refinancing and the start of an ambitious plan to transform the group. I am pleased to say these are the first results which clearly show the progress which is being made - not least by the publication of this interim report well ahead of recent years," commented Chair Harry Wilson.
"Of particular note are the 34% increase in sales and the 72% reduction in the loss from continuing operations over the comparable period for 2018. As the legacy issues fall away behind us, we are hopeful this positive trend will continue," Wilson added.
Sales growth was driven primarily by Philatelic operations, with sales nearly doubling to GBP3.4 million on the year before. Publishing sales were broadly flat, as were sales from Coins & Medals. The Philatelic unit also posted a small profit, Stanley Gibbons noted.
Looking forward, Stanley Gibbons said there "is a lot of work to be done".
"These are only the early stages and it is vital we not only continue the momentum we have begun to create but accelerate it still further. This is no small task, particularly as we go through the redevelopment of our main trading location at 399 Strand, but we are focused on and working extremely hard to achieve exactly that," said Chief Executive Graham Shircore.
By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2019 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
