Angling Direct Regulatory News (ANG)

8 October 2018

Angling Direct plc

("Angling Direct" or the "Company" or the "Group")

Half-yearly report for the period ended 31 July 2018

Angling Direct plc (AIM: ANG), the UK's largest specialist fishing tackle and equipment retailer, is pleased to announce its unaudited financial results for the six months ended 31 July 2018.

Financial Highlights:

· Group revenue of £21.94 million up by 55.8% (H1 2018: £14.08 million)

· Gross profit of £7.22 million up by 52.6% (H1 2018: £4.73 million)

· Pre-tax profit of £0.57 million (H1: 2018 £0.09 million) after accelerated investment in European expansion

· EPS increased by 1.44 pence to 1.11 pence from a loss of 0.33 pence in H1 2018

· Cash and cash equivalents at 31 July 2018 of £0.78 million (H1 2018: £4.10 million)

Operational Highlights:

· Online sales up 60% to £11.69 million

· Store sales up 60% to £9.93 million, including like-for-like store growth of 4.2%

· Continued investment in online marketing, customer service, logistics and distribution

· Introduction of our first International Website in Germany

· Acquired Ted Carter Fishing Tackle a well-established retail store in Preston in June

Post-Period End:

· Opening of Guildford store in September 2018

· Like-for-like store sales in August up by 15.4% & September by 12%

Martyn Page, Executive Chairman, said: "It has been another highly successful period for the Group with impressive growth achieved across our network of stores and online. We have executed on our strategy to develop a strong pipeline of new store openings and acquisitions and remain on track to meet our full year targets.

"Our online business has been developing at an exceptional rate and we successfully launched our first international Angling Direct website in Germany in June. Further international expansion is expected to take place, with websites for France and Benelux being developed for the second half of this year.

"I would like to thank my fellow directors and the whole of the Angling Direct team for their continued efforts over this period."

For further information:

Chief Executive's review

I am pleased to report a strong set of interim results for the six-month period ended 31 July 2018. In-store and online have both performed well throughout the half despite the challenging winter weather conditions that we faced earlier in the year. Revenue for the period was £21.94 million, an increase of £7.86 million or 55.8% (H1 2018: £14.08 million). Adjusted EBITDA was £0.74 million, a decrease of £0.19 million (H1 2018: £0.93 million) as a consequence of the decision to bring forward our investment in the future growth of the online business in the UK and Europe. As well as infrastructure, we also made additional investment in marketing and customer services to support this growth.

The income statement shows a pre-tax profit of £0.57 million, an increase of £0.48 million or 530% on last year (H1: 2018 £0.09 million); and EPS increased by 1.44 pence to 1.11 pence from a loss of 0.33 pence per share in H1 2018.

Half Year Trading

The Group enjoyed a strong start to the year, with retail store revenue increasing by 60% to £9.93 million (H1 2018: £6.21 million) demonstrating continued growth, backed with like-for-like sales up by 4.2%. This was despite a 1.2% drop in footfall due to the adverse winter weather, which again confirms our in-store stock ranges and merchandising are going as planned. Average baskets in the stores are up 5.5% to £33.72 (H1: 2018 £31.96).

Online revenue from the Company's website increased by 64% to £10.84 million (H1 2018: £6.59 million) helped by further investment in the Company's e-commerce platform, and focused marketing both in the UK and Europe. The average basket value was lower at £78.97 (H1 2018: £96.96) due to our decision to reduce the postage free values to attract a higher frequency of sales for our smaller, higher margin items below £40. This has had a reassuringly positive impact, with the frequency of returning customers ordering sub £40 baskets increasing by over 200%.

The number of unique users visiting the website increased by 30% and we are delighted with the conversion increase to 5.24% (H1 2018: 3.74%).

We successfully launched our German website in June and the initial results have been very encouraging. We are planning to roll out other European websites later in the year, initially targeting France and Benelux.

eBay sales increased by 15% to £0.85 million (H1 2018: £0.74 million), while Insurance replacement sales reduced by 42% to £0.32 million (H1 2018: £0.55 million) due to a reduction in claim volumes and lower rates of theft.

The Group continues to invest in its own branded product range, Advanta, which contributed £0.51 million of the Group's total sales, up 13% from last year (H1 2018: £0.45 million). Additionally, we have increased our investment in stock to improve the availability throughout the year of key selling items.

The Group's strategy of remaining competitive with its pricing structure, as per its price checker policy, will remain. Despite competing against further discounting by our competition, online growth in Europe, especially on capital items, and price increases from suppliers in the Far East, we still managed to achieve margins of 32.9% in the period (H1 2018: 33.6%).

We will continue to monitor these factors and look to improve our margin by focusing on our suppliers and other specific product opportunities.

Store Roll-out

The Group is continuing to expand its UK store footprint through strategically placed store roll-out. The Group will continue to assess acquisition opportunities that will be a functional fit and add value to the Group's overall operations.

The Group ended the period owning and operating 22 stores based around the UK (H1 2018: 15 stores). Following the period end a further store was opened in Guildford (September 2018)

It is anticipated that the Group will open one further store in Peterborough before the end of October 2018 and the Group, therefore, expects to own and operate 24 stores based by the end of our financial year. The new store pipeline for 2019 is already being developed and this will see expansion into new areas of the country in-line with the Company's stated strategy.

Outlook

The Group continues to invest in the future growth of the business, both online and in-store. As we grow, we will continue to review costs and improve operational efficiencies and margins, and the introduction of a new Kardex system in our warehouse will see beneficial efficiencies coming through next year. We are proud of the results of our online strategy and have seen continued solid trading since the period end. We believe that the platform we have established and the experience we have gained will enable us to achieve robust and sustainable growth.

Darren Bailey

Chief Executive Officer

CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT

FOR THE 6 MONTHS ENDED 31 JULY 2018

STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

FOR THE 6 MONTHS ENDED 31 JULY 2018

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

AS AT 31 JULY 2018

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

FOR THE 6 MONTHS ENDED 31 JULY 2018

CONSOLIDATED CASHFLOW STATEMENT

FOR THE 6 MONTHS ENDED 30 JULY 2018

NOTES TO THE CASH FLOW STATEMENT

FOR THE 6 MONTHS ENDED 31 JULY 2018

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS UNAUDITED RESULTS

FOR THE 6 MONTHS ENDED 31 JULY 2018

1. Basis of preparation

These interim financial statements for the six-month period ended 31 July 2018 have been prepared using the historical cost convention, on a going concern basis and in accordance with applicable International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union ("IFRS") and with those parts of the UK Companies Act 2006 applicable to companies reporting under IFRS as adopted by the European Union. They have also been prepared on a basis consistent with the accounting policies expected to be applied for the year ending 31 January 2019 and which are also consistent with the accounting policies applied for the year ended 31 January 2018 except for the adoption of any new standards and interpretations.

These interim results for the six months ended 31 July 2018 are unaudited and do not constitute statutory accounts as defined in Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements for the year ended 31 January 2018 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and filed at Companies House and the auditors' report on those financial statements was unqualified and did not contain a statement made under Section 498(2) or Section 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006.

2. Profit per share

Basic Earnings Per Share is calculated by dividing the earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of ordinary shares of 42,999,993 (31st January 2018, and 31st July 2018) outstanding during the period.

3. Exceptional items

There were no exceptional items in the period.

4. Called up Share Capital

5. Post balance sheet events

There are no post balance sheet events to report