Aquis Exchange PLC on Thursday said that trading remains in line with expectations, after reporting a fall in profit but boost in revenue over the first half.
For the six months ended June 30, the London-based creator and facilitator of financial markets reported pretax profit of £1.05 million, down from £1.15 million a year prior.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were down 6.5% to £1.6 million from £1.7 million. Basic earnings per share were down to 3.0 pence from 3.8p the year before.
Net revenue, meanwhile, rose 3.5% to £10.0 million from £9.7 million.
This improvement came in part thanks to ‘strategic delivery’ across all divisions, including ‘strong growth’ in Aquis Technologies’ contract pipeline, and an increase in revenue for Aquis Data.
Looking ahead, Aquis said current trading is in line with the expectations set out in its last update.
In August, the firm bemoaned the loss of a historical contract for a start-up exchange, which was not renewed, and said second half revenue and pretax profit would be £1 million lower than originally thought as a result.
‘I am pleased with the progress made by Aquis in the first half of 2024, as we continued to deliver against our strategy at pace. We have made meaningful progress across all of our divisions, the majority of which have increased revenues and maintained stable [profit before tax], reflecting the investment plans we communicated last year,’ said Chief Executive Officer Alasdair Haynes.
‘There is real momentum across the business. Our pipeline in the Technologies division has increased materially since last year and now stands at record levels, with notable growth in the quality of the pipeline as well. Our strategic investment in this division demonstrates our commitment to strengthen the group’s ability to capitalise on this pipeline, and drive further scale.’
Shares in Aquis Exchange were trading 0.8% lower at 380.00 pence each in London on Thursday afternoon.
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