Fishing Republic losses widen in 'year of transition'

(Sharecast News) - Fishing Republic saw revenues dry up and losses widen in the first six months of its trading year.The AIM-listed firm told investors on Thursday that its results reflected the "challenging period", including the "very difficult trading backdrop".Fishing Republic's revenues sunk 16% to £3.4 in the six months ended 30 June, partly due to store closures, as the outfit swung from its breakeven performance a year ago to an LBITDA of £1.4m.The group, which stated it was "in a year of transition" incurred £900,000 of exceptional costs in the half, mainly as a result of reorganisation, store closure costs and a write-down of stock values.Losses per share ballooned to 5.05p from the 0.25p recorded in the first half of the prior year.James Newman, chairman, said: "Fishing Republic is in a year of transition. 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."Elsewhere, Fishing Republic revealed that it had appointed former GO Outdoors commercial director Daniel Quinn to the board as its new chief executive officer, with effect from 17 October 2018.Quinn said: "As much as there are challenges to be overcome, there are also some very clear short-term opportunities to materially improve performance.""With a strong team and the continued support of shareholders and suppliers, I am confident of our future success."As of 0945 BST, Fishing Republic shares had sunk 9.29% to 5.08p.