ADVFN to pay maiden dividend after swinging to profit

Stock trading platform operator ADVFN reported revenue of £9.06m in its final results on Wednesday, up from £7.07m year-on-year, as it swung to an operating profit of £1.63m from a loss of £0.32m.

The AIM-traded firm said its profit before tax for the year ended 30 June was £1.61m, compared to a loss of £0.35m in the prior year.

Basic earnings per share came in at 6.28p and diluted earnings were 5.97p per share, both swinging from losses of 0.88p.

ADVFN announced a maiden dividend of 1.5p per share, to be paid in January to shareholders on the record as at 24 December.

“Following our reorganisation in 2019, we have benefited from the silver lining that has accompanied the very dark clouds of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said chief executive officer Clement Chambers.

“While the pandemic has boosted business, there are other tailwinds pushing us forwards.”

Chambers said “global actions” to cope with the pandemic had raised interest in trading and investing in markets, which increased the company’s subscriptions and advertising revenues.

“Cryptocurrency prices and investor interest increased substantially mid-year bringing another tailwind to support our progress.

“Meanwhile, our firm belief is that the next generation of traders and investors have now emerged and that this will represent a secular boost for us in the future.

“This last factor is possibly more important than the previous two because while emergencies come and go, and are always a business driver for us, underlying those cycles is the size of the audience; the bigger that audience the better our market.”

At 1146 GMT, shares in ADVFN were up 9.79% at 78.5p.