Half-year sales leap at Expansys
THE online phone retailer Expansys, which is part-owned by Dragons’ Den star Peter Jones, has seen half-year sales jump.
In the six months to October 31 revenue grew by 61% to £32.7m, an increase which reflected several acquisitions and a like-for-like sales hike of 31%.
Expansys made a small pre-tax loss of £39,000, up from £24,000 last time, but it said its adjusted pre-tax profit figure of £1.3m – which takes into account exceptionals, amortisation and several other factors – was a more “useful comparison”. It made an adjusted loss of £158,000 last year.
Chairman Bob Wigley said: “I am pleased to report that we have delivered on our objectives for the first half. The businesses we acquired in July are now fully integrated and have performed in line with our initial forecasts and the online retail business is delivering improving results in a challenging global market.”
The company bought Data Select Network Solutions and PJ Media for £38m from Mr Jones in July, funded with a £30m share issue. The former is a pre-pay SIM card business and the latter is a website development business.
At the time the company described the deals as the first stage in its strategy “to become a leading global online technology superstore”.
During the period the firm saw revenue growth in the UK and the Americas while its Asia division has seen a “substantial improvement” in trading performance.
