Christie Group set to announce stronger second-half performance

Christie Group said in an update on Thursday that it was poised to announce a stronger trading performance in the second half of 2023 compared to the first half.

The AIM-traded company anticipated that its full-year results, excluding exceptional costs, would align with market expectations, as adjusted in early December.

In terms of revenue performance, Christie said its professional and financial services (PFS) division saw a resurgence in revenue during the latter part of the year, rebounding from a sluggish summer.

However, the company experienced delays in finalising some deals originally slated for the latter half of 2023, which were now expected to conclude in 2024.

Conversely, revenues in the stock and inventory systems and services (SISS) division declined in the second half compared to the first half of the year.

That dip was primarily attributed to traditional seasonal trading patterns affecting the UK retail stocktaking operation.

Additionally, the loss of Wilko as a client due to the collapse of that chain further impacted SISS revenues.

Despite those challenges, the PFS division's improved performance in the second half partially offset the SISS division's decline.

The firm also noted positive developments in its hospitality and pharmacy stocktaking operations, alongside successful new business ventures in its software visitor attraction business.

“The group is seeing positive and encouraging activity levels across its sectors at the start of 2024, with its UK transactional and advisory pipelines having now recovered to a significantly improved position from a year ago,” the board said of the company’s outlook.

“2024 for the group has started positively, with particularly strong January invoicing in its UK agency and advisory business, Christie & Co.”

At 0926 GMT, shares in Christie Group were up 2.82% at 87.4p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.