LONDON (Alliance News) - Angling retailer Fishing Republic PLC said Thursday its loss widened as sales dropped on store closures and one-off costs dragged losses lower, while it has also appointed a new boss.
For the six months ended June, its pretax loss deepened to GBP2.5 million from GBP117,544 the year prior after revenue fell to GBP3.4 million from GBP4.1 million the year before.
Revenue was hurt by the closure of five of its 19 stores after a review.
Profit performance was hurt by a smaller fall in costs of sales to GBP2.5 million from GBP2.6 million the year prior, leading to gross profit dropping to GBP904,417 from GBP1.5 million the year before. Profit was also held back by a GBP441,534 provision for an inventory write-down.
"Fishing Republic is in a year of transition," Chairman James Newman said.
"Following a comprehensive review of the group's operations, we have taken firm action in the first six months of the financial year to stabilise the business and to implement changes to improve its performance."
"The restructuring of the business was undertaken against very difficult trading conditions - so it has been a particularly challenging period," Newman added.
"While the sales environment continues to be tough, with strong competitive pressures, our major shareholders have supported our plans, and we remain confident of the prospects for the business as we navigate through the current challenges."
In a separate announcement, Fishing Republic announced it has appointed Daniel Quinn as its new chief executive officer from October 17. On his appointment, Chairman Newman - who had been acting in an executive capacity - will return to his role as non-executive chair.
Quinn has been the chief commercial director at outdoor equipment and clothing retailer GO Outdoors - part of JD Sports Group PLC since 2016 - for the last six years. Prior to this, he worked at supermarket giant Tesco PLC for over 20 years where he held a number of "senior commercial positions."
"I am looking forward to joining Fishing Republic and working with the team to drive both a recovery in the group's financial performance and establish a long-term growth plan, aimed at positioning the group as a multi-channel leader in the sector," Quinn said.
"As much as there are challenges to be overcome, there are also some very clear short-term opportunities to materially improve performance," Quinn added.
"We will be focusing on these opportunities as well as the longer-term strategy over the coming months. With a strong team and the continued support of shareholders and suppliers, I am confident of our future success."
Shares in Fishing Republic were 9.3% lower at 5.08 pence on Thursday.
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